


Chemistry (Rewritten)

by Monsbaddecisions, Self_Insert_Nonsense



Category: Re-Animator (Movies)
Genre: (for real this time), Blood and Gore, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Injury, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, herbert is a moron and continues to defy god, weird opossum cult
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:42:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 46,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24672538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monsbaddecisions/pseuds/Monsbaddecisions, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Self_Insert_Nonsense/pseuds/Self_Insert_Nonsense
Summary: Herbert West was rude, cold, uncaring to the world... and he was working on something horrible, and yet Rubi found herself drawn to him. She couldn't figure out what it was that she found so interesting about him, nor could she understand why he seemed okay with her being around more often than he used to, but she was going to figure out a way to... figure it out. She hadn't really thought ahead on her planning.
Relationships: Daniel Cain & Herbert West, Daniel Cain/Megan Halsey, Herbert West/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 47
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Rewrite cuz I wasn't happy with how the original fic was going! :D

The young woman hid behind a wall as she held her breath. Someone, or something, she wasn’t entirely sure, was ambling slowly down the hall, groaning and making the most terrifying gurgling sounds. Rubi peeked out behind the wall, getting a glance of the creature. It looked human, but it was disgusting, covered in blood that seemed to be seeping from every orifice. once again she leaned against the wall, breathing heavily in fear. No zombie movie prepared her for this.

  
She had just wanted to visit her grandfather since he worked at the morgue for Miskatonic University, and she thought it would be nice to pop in and say hello, see how he was doing. He hadn’t been there, thankfully, he’d gone home early that night. After silently thanking whoever would listen for her grandfather being safe, Rubi peeked from behind the wall again, no longer seeing the shambling zombie. She looked at the trail of blood that led off down the hall and cautiously made her way to the elevator. To her shock, it opened, revealing two very disheveled men, one of whom was covered in blood and God knows what else, the other holding what appeared to be an unconscious blonde woman. They both looked equally surprised at seeing some random woman staring back at them. Stepping out of the way, she watched as they headed for the exit, seeming to know where to go. Rubi turned and, without much thought, followed, not too close as she didn’t want to seem like she was following. In her haste, she’d gotten turned around and had no idea where the exit was.

  
She heard a little bit of their conversation, “…Told you she would be fine,” the man covered in viscera said coldly, eyeing the unconscious woman in the taller man’s arms.

“She could’ve died, West,” the taller man responded, holding the woman a little closer. She noticed he looked at the shorter man again after looking down,

"Are you alright?”

  
“Dr. Hill’s disgusting and malformed body almost killed me,” the shorter man, who Rubi now only knew as West, responded, “I was able to grab a scalpel and…,” he quieted, pointedly looking behind him, directly at Rubi. She froze, looking away and acting like she hadn’t been listening.

Herbert huffed, turning back around and waved his hand dismissively, “Let’s not talk about it. What I’m grateful for, Daniel is that you managed to actually hold on to this,” he held up a bag, something Rubi hadn’t noticed before.

  
Daniel nodded, “I kinda wish I hadn’t. That stuff’s given us nothing but trouble,” Rubi wondered for a moment what he meant when she heard a familiar gurgling noise. To her present horror, it was another one of the zombie-like monsters from earlier. Turning quickly, Rubi grabbed the first object she could find, a hammer from some construction work in the small hallway. There was just enough time for her to turn back to the two men as the creature snuck up on them from behind. 

  
Running in front of them, she smashed the sharp end of the hammer into the head of the creature, her eyes widening in horror when it got stuck, “What the fuck WHAT THE FUCK-!” Daniel, who had put the unconscious woman down, ran over to help Rubi as he knocked the creature to the floor. Rubi took the opportunity to free the hammer from its head and ram it back in, finally killing it. She tried not to think about the blood now covering her face and body. Shaking, she stood and turned, looking at the two men. Daniel picked up the woman again, looking apologetic as West frowned and said coolly, “Interesting. We missed one.”

  
Rubi had no idea what he meant and was too scared to ask. The two men walked by her, a feeling of dread crossing over her as she accidentally locked eyes with West. He seemed so disinterested in what just happened, Rubi thought, watching them. Still shaking, she followed, this time farther away to not hear anymore of whatever they were talking about. She didn’t want to know at this point. All she could smell was iron, and it was making her want to vomit. Finally leaving the morgue, she noticed police cars were beginning to show up. Realizing she probably looked kind of suspicious, Rubi hastily made her way to her car and drove home. The iron smell was stronger in the cramped area.

  
\--  
Finally, clean after showering for what felt like forever, Rubi grabbed her ruined clothes and threw them into the fireplace, watching them burn as she fought the urge to vomit again. She killed someone tonight or re-killed them. Had it been a zombie? Or just… some poor soul who was in a frenzied state? She thought about the dean of Miskatonic University. Everyone had heard about it at that point, the poor man had some kind of horrible psychotic break, became a completely different person. Judging from what she’d heard, he seemed kind of similar to the creature she’d killed tonight.

  
Shuddering, realizing she probably wasn’t going to be sleeping well for a few days, she went and flopped onto her old couch, wondering if she should call her mom or her grandpa. Surely they’d hear about the horrors that happened, more frenzied people bleeding profusely, running around nearly killing or actually killing people. As she was about to pick up the phone, someone knocked on her front door, causing her to jump. Fearing the worst, police, she cautiously walked to the door, opening it slowly.  
To her surprise, the man from earlier, West was his name, stood there. The two stared at each other in shock before he cleared his throat,

“You were the woman from earlier, I assume,” when she nodded, he pulled a slip of paper out, “I noticed, Ms. Blue, that you have a room available. My former roommate has decided I need to get out of his home after the events of tonight, mostly so he can fret over his... fiancée,” Rubi frowned at the slight look of disgust on the man's face, “As such, I decided to try and find myself a new place to continue my work, and I noticed you mention in this rental ad that you own an empty shed.”

  
“Oh, yeah, I uh… It came with the house, I’ve never used it,” she muttered, “Do you… want to come in? You can check out the shed and the room. I assume your last name is West. I uh… I heard you and the other guy, Daniel I think his name was, talking,” Rubi had to stop herself from babbling, a habit she did out of nervousness. This guy was kind of intimidating, even though he was at least a full two inches shorter than her. Something about the way he looked at everything so… analytical,

“Perfect. My full name is Herbert West, you may address me by either my first or last name.”

  
The two walked into the home, Herbert looking around the room with a focused stare, “Your home is very… quaint, Ms. Blue,”

She frowned, “Just call me Rubi. Being called Ms makes me feel like an old woman,” he nodded, looking around. He stopped in front of some of Rubi’s artwork, hand-drawn portraits of her family that she’d made for herself.

“Did you draw these? I noticed your name down in the corner.”

  
“Oh um… yeah. I took some art classes a few years ago and kind of went from there. Those are just photocopies though, the real ones are with my mom. She had a fire a couple of years ago and lost the original pictures…,” she chewed on her bottom lip, glancing further down the hall and the more macabre art she’d drawn, wondering if Herbert would notice them, too.

  
He definitely did, as his attention was suddenly drawn to the morbid images of anatomical studies, terrifying original creatures, and dreary landscapes, “You drew these as well?” He seemed particularly interested in the anatomical drawings. Rubi nodded, holding her hands behind her back nervously. He leaned in to look closer at the drawings, “Impeccable. You have quite an eye for anatomy.”

  
She wasn’t sure if she should feel uncomfortable or flattered at the compliment, “Did you want to see the shed? Or the room? First, I mean,” she stuttered out.

He glanced at her, a new look in his cold, dark eyes, “The shed, of course. The room, I’m not too worried about. If there’s room for a bed, closet, and desk, I believe all should be fine.”

  
The two walked out back, Rubi glancing around warily, “Um, watch out for opossums, they like to hide out here,” she warned him. He simply nodded and opened the shed door, flicking on the light switch. Inside was an empty room, much larger than the basement Herbert had been used to. He walked in, looking around and stopping as if calculating where things could potentially go. Rubi bit on her nail, chipping some nail polish nervously as she finally asked, “What do you… want with this old shed, anyway?”

  
“I’m a bit of a scientist,” he said vaguely, “I’ve been working on a sort of ‘passion project,’ and I need a place where I can do my work. This seems perfect, honestly. I’ll come back tomorrow to move in, although that’s only because my tools are still in the basement of my associate’s home. Would you like the payment now or at the end of the month?”

  
“Oh gosh uh…,” Rubi blinked in surprise, “I… The… Uh, the end of the month, I guess…?”

He nodded, “Very well. I’ll see you tomorrow then, Rubi,” and with that, he left for the night, walking out the way he’d come, and leaving Rubi incredibly confused


	2. Chapter 2

It had been three weeks since Herbert West had moved into Rubi’s home, and at this point she was convinced he was secretly some kind of serial killer. He had an alarmingly vast amount of knowledge on the human body, although he explained it was because he was going to school to be a doctor. Rubi wasn’t sure if she should believe him, he seemed too into the idea of death, even for her.

Dan seemed nice though, and he was apparently “friends” with West. He even told her, “It’s kind of like he’s not even here if you don’t want to see what he’s doing. For a little while, anyway,” Rubi wasn’t sure if she liked the implication that she was going to find out what Herbert did in the shed all the time eventually, or if she dreaded the revelation. Either way, she kept to her own, and occasionally saw Herbert when he would come from the shed after roughly three or four days, looking so out of it from exhaustion that Rubi couldn’t help but make him at least sit down for a couple of minutes and just rest.

“You’re gonna burn yourself out, West,” Rubi told him, crossing her arms as she watched him look at nothing for a few seconds, before blinking blearily at her, “I suppose you’re correct, but I’m incredibly close to solving an issue I was having with my work.”

“You’ll never get there if you don’t take breaks, man,” she sat unceremoniously on the chair near the couch, kicking her legs up onto one of the arms. Herbert frowned, “I don’t think that’s the proper way you should sit when you’re wearing a skirt.”

“Do I look like I care? This is how I sit in chairs,” she looked at him blithely. He turned away slightly, muttering something that sounded vaguely rude. Rubi just laughed, pulling her book out to read. Herbert, slightly curious, glanced at the cover, “Frankenstein? That’s an... interesting choice.”

“I’ve read all the classic horror stories at least three times, this one is just one of my favorites,” she grinned, opening up the book at about the middle. Herbert glanced from her to the book again, “You have decent taste, I suppose.”

“Would it superior if I read like... Scientific documents or something?” This quip actually got a smirk out of Herbert, “You have a bit of an attitude, don’t you?”

“Only when people are kind of assholes,” she leaned on her arm as she sneered a little. Herbert just chuckled and stood, “This 'break' had been... interesting. I feel like I learned a little more about you.”

He left the room, Rubi watching him and frowning in irritation. The dude has some kind of complex, she decided, “You don’t know a damn thing about me, West!” She called after him. He peeked from behind the wall, calm as always, “I believe I know more than you seem to realize, Rubi. Like how you moved out here only a month ago to be closer to your ailing grandfather,” how did he know that, “How you currently work a dead-end job at some retail store that will probably be going bankrupt soon,” how... did he know that, “How you have several thousand in debt because of your art classes, but you continue going because you want to be an artist,” she felt incredibly uncomfortable, “It isn’t hard to find information like that, Rubi. Your grandfather talks quite highly of you, his ‘oddly dressed granddaughter,’” Rubi glared, “You know my grandpa?”

“Of course, he works at the school, he’s who you were planning to see the night we met, correct?” She nodded and he continued, “Technically, that wasn’t the first time I saw you. The first time I saw you was about a year ago when you apparently came to visit from your hometown. You were blonde, I believe. Not quite going through your gothic phase yet,” Rubi fought the urge to tell him it wasn’t a fucking phase like some angsty teenager, “You seemed like some kind of innocent, naive soul. Bubbly, even. I find it interesting you changed so drastically.”

“Sometimes change is a good thing," Rubi said calmly, "It lets people explore who they want to be," Herbert nodded, glancing at her outfit, "Sometimes exploring who you want to be might be a bit of a bad choice."

She glared, "Don't you have some science to do?"

—

Rubi glared at the clock on the wall, it was 3 in the morning and she couldn’t sleep. She hadn’t stopped thinking about what Herbert had said, and the fact that he had definitely been criticizing her clothing choices. She didn't even wear the over the top outfits, what the hell did he know about fashion? He wore oversized dress-shirts, stupid, short, bastard, Rubi thought, irritated.

A loud crash startled her, causing her to sit up quickly. She got out of bed and walked cautiously to the bedroom door, opening it. To her horror, standing at the end of the hall was another one of those zombie creatures. Slamming the door shut and locking it, she looked for something to defend herself with. She kept a baseball bat in her room, she realized, running over and pulling it out from underneath the bed and holding it firmly. She then realized she hadn’t used a bat since she was about 5 years old and panicked a little. Her door started cracking as the zombie bashed their body against it repeatedly.

The door finally crashed into splinters, and Rubi ran at the zombie, smashing it in the head as hard as she could. She heard a horrible cracking sound as the metal bat connected with its skull, and the zombie fell to the ground, horrible gurgling sounds coming from its throat. She started panicking again and ran past it, calling for Herbert. He appeared suddenly, disheveled and covered in blood. Seeing her equally disheveled state, he glanced warily up the stairs to the second floor, then back to her in an unspoken question. She nodded, grateful her adrenaline had kicked in and she wasn’t feeling anything right at the moment. The two walked up the stairs, Rubi with her now dented bat, and Herbert with a large knife. The reached her room, and Herbert sighed when he saw the motionless body, “You must have killed it with that thing,” he nodded to her bat, which she used to poke the body on the floor. Satisfied it wasn’t moving, Rubi went to get the phone, only for Herbert to grab her arm, “Where are you going?”

“I have to call the cops? There was some weird crackhead or zombie or or...,” words failed Rubi as she took in the serious look on Herbert’s face, “We can’t go to the police.”

Oh god, she thought, I was right, he’s a serial killer. That guy was totally some innocent who was probably looking for help and I killed him oh god oh god-

“That,” Herbert pointed to the corpse, “Was the result of my work.”

What? Rubi thought, “Your work..?”

He nodded grimly, “I suppose Daniel was correct that you would find out eventually. Come with me,” he hadn’t let go of her arm, pulling her calmly back down the stairs to the shed, away from the horrible mess in front of her room.

\--

This was the first time Rubi had entered the shed since Herbert had decided to start living in her home. He’d made quick work of getting the building set up as a makeshift lab. Dan had helped, of course, but Rubi hadn’t touched a single thing.

Herbert stepped behind her as she was looking around the room, gauging her reaction to the various test tubes, some filled with a strange, glowing liquid that vaguely reminded Rubi of those neat glowsticks people liked to have at blacklight parties. She walked over and looked at one of the tubes, “What is this stuff?”

“My work,” Herbert looked proud of himself, “You see, I’ve been finding a way to bring the dead back to life. I believe it is entirely possible, considering the subjects I’ve managed to successfully resuscitate,” Rubi turned and looked at him in horror, “This... This is the most immoral... Why do you want to... are you fucking insane?” She felt like she was going to be sick, “Who knows what that thing would have done if I hadn’t had a bat with me?! I could’ve been killed!!”

“But you weren’t,” Herbert responded coolly. Rubi ran her fingers through her hair, looking between him and the liquid in the tubes, “What do you do... you... inject the stuff into their bodies or something?”

“As a matter of fact, I do, come here,” he motioned for her to follow. Warily, she followed, looking at an anatomical figure on his desk, “I inject the reagent right here,” he pointed to the base of the neck. Rubi glanced around the room after looking at the figure, noticing the blood staining the walls and floors, “How many people have been in here...?”

“You’d be surprised, Daniel and I have done a decent job keeping them contained. Tonight unfortunately, I was by myself and couldn’t handle it in time,” he pushed his glasses back up on his nose, “Fortunately, you seem to be smart enough to have some kind of weapon handy.”

Rubi glanced down at the dented, metal bat in her hand, the realization of all that had happened finally weighing down on her. Shaking violently, she dropped the bat and fell to the ground. She was vaguely aware of something being placed over her shoulders, She shut her eyes, trying to keep herself from vomiting, as she heard, “I’m genuinely surprised with how well you handled this whole thing,” he helped her stand, “Alright let’s get you back into the house. I’ll call Daniel and he’ll help me get rid of...,” he trailed off, “Well... You can probably rest on the... couch, for the night."


	3. Chapter 3

“So… he’s like some kind of weird, short Dr. Frankenstein,” Rubi asked. Dan shrugged, “I never read that book... or seen the movie, really, but probably,” he took a drink from his coffee, “I’m sorry you got dragged into this, though. I told Herbert if he wasn’t careful you could get hurt but uh, he doesn’t like to listen.”

“I noticed that,” Rubi muttered. She glanced over at the dark-haired man as he sat at his desk, hunched over writing something, “This is such a morbid topic, even for me. I can’t imagine how many times you’ve had to…,” she trailed off, shuddering. Dan just sighed, “I hate saying it but you kind of get used to it after a while. Plus, I deal with bodies a lot as a medical student.”

Rubi sighed softly as she ran her fingers through her hair. She glanced at Herbert again, before turning back to Dan, “How’s uh… I think you said her name is Meg?” His eyes lit up a little, “She’s doing pretty good, actually. One of the um… one of the reanimated kind of choked her and she has some bruises that finally healed up a bit. She’s… she’s ok and I’m happy about that.”

She smiled, Dan really seemed to love this woman if he was so happy to talk about her. She glanced at Herbert, noting his disgusted expression. He must be listening, she thought, before turning to Dan and grinning, “You must really care about her, Dan. That’s pretty cute,” success, she thought. Herbert’s look of disgust only grew more disgusted, as he set his pencil down and sat up straight, turning to them, “Must you talk about relationships here? I’m busy.”

"Sorry Herbert, we-,” Dan started, but Rubi, now feeling a little defiant, spoke over him, “What’s wrong West? Jealous of Dan’s relationship? How come you don’t have a girlfriend? Or boyfriend, I don’t judge.”

“Relationships are a weak point in a person’s life. Were I to ever succumb to such foolishness, I’d surely die. Plus I would never get anything done, relationships like that require a bit of effort and work, something I don’t have time for. Emotional ties like that are ridiculous and beneath me,” he had turned back to his work, focusing on that instead of the two sitting and staring at him in confusion. Rubi was more amused than anything, and wanted to further annoy Herbert, but she could tell Dan didn’t want to do anything to provoke him. Resigning herself to annoying Herbert later, she sighed and looked around the room, “Hey Herbert?” She asked.

He looked up, uninterested. Rubi chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment before speaking, “You want some new drawings? Or I guess I mean… Do you want some anatomy pictures? Yours are kinda…,” she glanced at the wall, “Partially destroyed and also incredibly gross and covered in blood and god knows what else…”

He looked at the anatomical drawings, then down to his notes, thinking carefully, before turning to her, “I suppose that could be done. I do need some updated pieces…,” his eyes lit up, “Wait… I had an idea.”

“West…,” Dan started, worried about where this was going, “Oh relax Daniel I’m not going to have her deal with the experiments too much. But I think having some of your rather anatomically correct artwork might help with some of the experimentation. If you want to feel included, of course,” he added on, noting the irritated look crossing Rubi’s face. She stood quickly, “I’ll just get started on those anatomy drawings for you, darlin’,” Rubi sneered, her Southern accent sneaking in. Herbert whipped his head around in confusion before looking at Dan, who was fighting laughter.

Rubi left the room, after hearing Herbert say, "Did you know she was Southern?" and headed to her “art room,” as she called it, an extra room in her house that she stuffed with all her excess art supplies. Grabbing a large canvas, some paints, and her pencils, she left the art room and came back into the shed, sitting down and smiling sweetly, “You want a normal picture or a terrifying, realistic picture?” Dan was now struggling and failing to hide his laughter, while Herbert simply looked irritated, “Surprise me,” he replied sardonically. Rubi just continued smiling as sweetly as she could and started to draw, occasionally looking at a tiny anatomical model sitting on Herbert’s desk.

\--

“You know, when I said, ‘surprise me,’ this isn’t what I had in mind,” Herbert said, looking slightly unnerved at the terrifying yet somehow anatomically correct figure in the picture Rubi made. She shrugged, “You have to understand that at the heart of everything I do, I enjoy drawing some morbid shit. In this case, something that reminds me of the horrible, horrible thing that was lying in front of my bedroom door for about three hours after I killed it.”

“That’s… fair I suppose. But did you have to give it all the gory details?” Dan asked, tilting his head at the image. Rubi simply shrugged again, “I thought West here would like a casual reminder of the monstrosities he’s made.”

“You, ma’am, are both fascinating, and vexatious,” Herbert muttered, “I have yet to meet a person who’d willingly draw something violent and incorporate it into something like this.”

“I don’t know what vexatious means but I feel like it’s an insult so I’ll just take the fascinating part as a compliment,” Rubi muttered, “You should see some of my other stuff, Dan, it’s a lot worse than this. Herbert’s seen it in my hallways.”

“I’m good, thanks,” Dan mumbled, wondering what he’d gotten himself into. Herbert chuckled to himself, “Of course you don’t know what vexatious means.”

“Well we can’t all be walking thesaurus, now can we?” Rubi said, irritated all over again, “Look if you don’t like it just tell me and I’ll make another one, I don’t care.”

“Oh no, by all means, I do actually like this. It’s… unique. I’ll hang it right here,” he gently took the canvas and placed it against the wall, “I’ll get something to hang it with."


	4. Chapter 4

Rubi had grown kind of accustomed to Herbert’s irritating nature, even welcoming it at this point. It was a nice change from the boring life she had been living before. She watched him silently from the kitchen as she cooked, taking a mental note that he was actually reading Frankenstein, while making sure not to lose her place. How thoughtful.

She heard a thump at the door, looking up, unease setting in. Herbert hadn’t reanimated anyone recently, and Dan was at his home with Megan. She let out a soft, “Oh no,” as the door opened, a group of opossums waddling into the room, followed by a scruffy looking teen whose hair covered their eyes.

Herbert stared in open mouthed surprise at what just happened. The teen smiled at him and turned to Rubi, “Sorry, didn’t know you had company," Rubi waved her hands dismissively, “Neighbor, it’s fine. This is Herbert, my... my roommate,” she realized it was the first time she had called him that. He nodded, “And you..?”

“Oh you can just call me Neighbor. I live next door,” they pointed to their right, “And these three here,” they pointed to the opossums, “Are Martha, Steve, and Gerald," Herbert noticed all three had distinct looks to them. The one called Martha had a tuft of fur poking off her head, Steve was a sleepy looking boy with a rounder body than the others, and Gerald was large and imposing, with a torn ear. Martha came over and sniffed Herbert, much to his dismay. He looked exasperatedly at Rubi, “What’s happening?”

“Long story,” Rubi replied, coming over and patting Gerald on the head, “Neighbor is kind of a unique kid, they’re apparently the leader of the opossums?” She looked at Neighbor,who nodded, “Anyway, they uh... they come over here occasionally. Dan’s met them a couple times.”

“I thought he was her boyfriend but apparently if you’re her roommate, you’re the boyfriend,” Neighbor said. Rubi and Herbert glanced at each other in surprise, before Rubi laughed, "Neighbor, we're not dating. I told you that already!" Herbert looked slightly disgusted, "Why would I ever be in a relationship with someone..?"

Martha seemed to be grinning at Herbert, and Neighbor noticed, saying “Martha thinks otherwise. She said you two spend a lot of time together," Herbert looked visibly uncomfortable and looked to Rubi for help, “He lives here too,” Rubi responded, “He pays me to live here. Speaking of which, month’s over where’s my pay?” Rubi turned to him. Rolling his eyes, he pulled money out of his back pocket, “I counted it four times but if you’re still unsure you may check it.”

“I believe you, dude. No worries,” Rubi grinned, sticking the money in her back pocket. Neighbor stayed over for a while, chatting with Herbert and Rubi about life and the weird things they had encountered while on vacation. Herbert looked completely confused the entire time, wondering how on earth Rubi handled this kind of situation. Realizing the time, Neighbor said their goodbyes and they, along with the opossums, left. Rubi flopped on the couch, “Sorry about that. I forgot to warn you about them, and how they tend to just kinda come over without warning.”

“Rubi I’ve seen some strange things in my life, that might have been the strangest,” Herbert said quietly, standing. He handed the book he had been reading back to her, “I marked my own spot, so we don’t get them confused. I had forgotten how nice it is to just sit and read sometimes.”

Rubi smiled, “Glad I could help out, I suppose. How’s that painting I made you holding up?”

“It’s fine, still intact,” Rubi could tell Herbert wasn’t the type to make small talk, and seemed slightly uncomfortable, “They thought... you and Daniel were together?” Rubi wondered why he was asking about that specifically, “Yeah I had to explain that he was engaged to Megan and stuff. Then they asked if I was seeing anyone and I said ‘oh I see someone every day but not in that sense,’ referring to you living here. Somehow they took it wrong I guess.”

He nodded, “Well... this has been... something, but I need to get back to work, if you’ll excuse me,” he left the room, Rubi watched him leave, frowning. He was always so formal, it was kind of irritating. But, she supposed, that was probably part of his personality. She wondered how he managed to befriend Dan. Dan was nice, and the complete opposite of Herbert in almost every way. She had asked about their strange friendship, but even Dan had been thrown off by how their friendship worked.

Well, Rubi thought, at least that won’t happen to me. He’s too much of a jerk, not my type for a friend in the slightest. At least, she was thinking that, but a part of her, the part that was lonely, kind of wanted to reach out and try. Surely he wouldn’t be that opposed to the idea of being on friendly terms with her. After all, he was borrowing her book, and he seemed fine with talking to her.

Rubi stood, deciding to go talk to him. She could make this work, she was sure of it. Walking to the shed, she knocked on the door, and jumped when she heard the sound of glass breaking. Was he reanimating something again and it was going horribly wrong? She wasn’t ready to see that again, but she pushed the door open, running into the room, prepared for the worst.

Herbert sat, hunched over his table, visibly shaking. Cautiously, Rubi walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, “West? What are you-,” he turned suddenly, and she noticed a makeshift tourniquet on his arm, in his other hand was a syringe full of his reagent. His hands were shaking so violently that he was struggling to hold it. Rubi looked between his horrified expression and his shaking hand, also taking note of a broken vial on the floor, before she connected the dots, “Oh my God...”

“I can’t... I need...,” Herbert spoke through clenched teeth, he couldn’t even get a full sentence out. Rubi walked over and pulled the syringe from his hand, “...Can you show me where I need to inject it? I don’t wanna fuck up and like... kill you, or something.”

He stared at her in surprise before shakily pointing to the vein in his arm. Rubi, biting her bottom lip, held his arm down so he would be still, and pushed the needle in, nailing it on the first try. She let out a sigh of relief, “Ok, so... only some of it or..?”

“All... all of it,” he mumbled. Rubi slowly pushed the syringe, watching the glowing liquid leave the tube with a worried yet focused expression. Herbert, despite his violent shaking, stared at her as she did this, almost in awe. She was like a different person when she was focused like this, usually getting this way when she worked on her artwork. She pulled the syringe out, throwing it across the room as she grabbed him to try and help still his shaking.

Eventually the shaking stopped, Herbert leaning heavily against Rubi, breathing heavily. Rubi took note of just how tired he looked, this was the closest she’d ever been to him. The bags under his eyes had been relatively well hidden behind his glasses, and she noticed he seemed a little underweight. She frowned, “Hey... you look like shit.”

He frowned slightly, “I’m aware I look worse for wear...,” he shut his eyes, “But my reagent keeps me from having to deal with frustrating things, like sleep, or food...”

“Holy fucking shit West,” Rubi stood, lifting Herbert with her, “Come on, you’re gonna die at this rate, we need to get you some food and then you need to rest...,” she half carried the weakened man out of the shed.


	5. Chapter 5

Rubi was incredibly cautious around Herbert for the next several days. Neither of them spoke about what happened, Rubi wasn’t sure if Dan had seen that side of Herbert or not. Something told her that he did when Rubi told Dan that he didn’t have to come over because “West is resting," and he had been surprisingly understanding.

Looking at the calendar, Rubi groaned. She had work starting back up tomorrow, and the last thing she wanted to deal with was her job. Her coworkers knew she had a new roommate, but they hadn’t pried, yet. She knew that, now that she'd had been off for a few weeks after the horrible incident at Miskatonic's hospital/morgue, they’d have questions. Rubbing her tired eyes, she fell onto her bed, glaring silently at the new bedroom door. She hadn’t gotten all the bloodstains out of the carpet, and she had to lie to anyone who might have noticed it, saying it was a wine stain, or that it had been there when she moved in.

She hadn’t realized she had fallen asleep until her alarm scared her awake the next day. She woke up, stretching, and got herself pulled together. She glanced at the shed, knowing Herbert was working in there, back to normal, and considered telling him she was going to work. Shaking her head, she left without saying a thing, insisting to herself that he could call her at work if he absolutely needed her.

She arrived early, a habit she picked up from her first job, and said hello to a couple of her coworkers. She felt very out of place around them, but she already wasn’t an incredibly social person, and they were all very, very social people. Rubi didn’t really have “friends” at work, just people who were nice to her. There was at least one person who had been interesting enough to be considered a friend, but she had walked out of the store and never looked back. Rubi envied her, she wished she could do something like that.

Although… As she was thinking about it, going through the motions of the day, she’d killed two different zombies now, she’d seen the dead come back to life in a horrible, horrible way, she had injected a horrifying liquid into a man’s veins to help him... How was she supposed to just… go back to normal? After all that plus some? She sat there, during her break, lost in thought, when someone tapped her shoulder.

“Hey Rubi,” one of her coworkers said, “You got a phone call, some guy asking to talk to you urgently or something,” ah dammit, it was West. She went and picked up the phone, “Hello?”

“Why did you not tell me you went back to work today? I was going to ask you for some input on something and you were nowhere to be found,” oh for fuck’s sake, Rubi thought to herself, “Sorry, I meant to tell you. Listen, I’ll be home in a couple of hours please don’t do anything dangerous until then.”

“If I have to wait for you to come home from your dead-end job just so I have some sort of backup for my experimentation, this is going to be a problem,” he hung up. Was he legitimately upset with her for not telling him she was going to work? She put the phone down, sighing, “That was my roommate.”

“He seemed… he sounds kind of…,” the coworker tried to think of a nice word to use. Rubi smiled a little, “It’s ok, you can say he’s a bit of an asshole. I’m well aware. It’s fine, he’s… interesting, and kind of entertaining, honestly.”

“If you say so…?” They muttered, seeming kind of confused. They left, giving her a look that made Rubi glare slightly. She hated when her coworkers gave her weird looks like that. She didn’t even look weird. But she didn't "fit in" with the others, she never had. They were more high end than she was, they were used to wearing overpriced clothes and always looking as best as possible while she just brushed her hair and sometimes wore makeup and called it good. She leaned on the table, messing with a pencil idly while she glowered. Suddenly she came to a realization. Standing up, she pulled off her nametag, a small smile forming on her face. She was going home. She fucking killed zombies, she didn’t need a stupid job. She could…. She could find something involving anatomy! Or art, or cooking. The world was full of possibilities. She didn’t need to be here, depressed and stressed out and full of anxiety over whether or not a customer was going to call her a stupid bitch to her face when she didn't give them a coupon. She ran out of the store, not looking at anyone as she ran to her car. She sped off, grinning, finally feeling free. Sure, she probably would never get to go into any of those stores ever again, but who cares, she didn’t like their clothes anyway.

Opening the door to the shed, a grin still on her face, Rubi said, “Tell me what you wanted to tell me, West. I just quit my fucking job!” Herbert turned to look at her, “Fascinating. Please inform me as to why you did that?”

“Well after your little phone call I started thinking,” Rubi sat down in a chair across from him, “I fucking hated it there,” she ignored his brows furrowing in disapproval over her choice of language, “No one there liked me, I’m 100% convinced of it, and I thought ‘You know, this place sucks. I don’t want to work here anymore. I’d much rather help the weird scientist who works on zombies in my shed!’”

“Weird scientist? Well at least you acknowledged the science portion…,” Herbert muttered. Rubi just grinned, looking at the desk, “Well I figured you would prefer me sticking around. Lord knows you’ll need another work partner of sorts since Dan’s a little busier now and you live here.”

“…I suppose… that could work. I also suppose I could have you take notes using your artwork… You’ll probably need to work on your strength, just to be safe, although you’ve been fairly resourceful when it comes to stopping experiments…,” Herbert trailed off, thinking about what they were going to do, “How are you going to pay your bills?”

“Way ahead of you. I have some side jobs that I’ve been doing. I’ve been getting more money from them than I did at my stupid retail job,” Rubi replied, “Those art classes I’ve taken in the past finally started paying off not too long ago!”

“Interesting. Alright, then we should be able to make this work,” he turned back to his desk, looking through his notes, “I didn’t actually have anything to tell you, by the way," this surprised her, “You didn’t?” He shook his head, “No, but I was rather irritated you didn’t tell me you were leaving the house,” he muttered. Rubi gave him a side eye, “You just wanted to rile me up and you ended up helping me quit my stupid job,” she smiled, “Even though you were trying to piss me off, you didn’t succeed and ended up taking part in making me happier than I’ve been in a while.”

He hummed in acknowledgement, unsure of how to answer.

\--

Rubi was pretty sure her arm was broken. Panting, she looked over at Herbert, who had a large cut on his arm. He noticed her holding her arm to her chest, “Herbert I think my arm’s broken,” she said softly, trying to fight tears, and failing.

“Let me look,” Herbert said quietly. Rubi nervously held it out, “I can’t move it,” she whispered, trying to keep from panicking now. Herbert frowned, “It’s very swollen… hm… Is it hurting you?” She nodded, dark stained tears running down her face. He gently prodded at her arm, murmuring that she was fine when she’d wince. He could feel the break, it had been clean, no splinters. Knowing what he needed to do next, he looked at her, “This is not going to feel very good, just letting you know,” he then set her arm back in place, causing Rubi to scream and hit him in the shoulder as hard as she could. He frowned, “I told you it wasn't going to feel very well, my God woman..." 

“What about that gash on your arm?” He looked down in question, seeing the cut, “Ah. I’ll have to stitch that later. Wonderful...,” he grabbed her good hand and walked her over to a chair, “Do not move your arm. I have extra gauze from when Daniel broke his ankle a few months back.”

While he worked on his arm, Rubi watched his face. He wasn’t the most attractive person, always frowning, thick glasses, short, dark hair... but in that moment Rubi almost found him kind of handsome. She frowned, thinking, how disgusting, why would I think something like that?

When she looked away to try and get those stupid thoughts out of her head, Herbert glanced up at her. Her dyed hair was a rats nest currently, her black lipstick smudged after wiping sweat and blood from her face without thinking. He thought about what caused the two of them to be in such a state; the experiment that had escaped had really done a number on both of them. He noticed dark tear streaks from her crying, and sighed, frustrated, "Crying won't get you anywhere."

"Shut up," she muttered.

Herbert wasn’t the type to think of having “friends,” but Daniel was his friend. Dan had even told him that. Was Rubi his friend too? Would she consider him one? He wasn’t sure why he wanted to know. Herbert, at this point, was convinced he had just been spending too much time around the woman. She wasn’t very bright, in his opinion, but she wasn’t a completely foolish girl either. She jumped into this with both feet, no hesitation. He kind of admired her tenacity in that regard. And what she lacked in scientific intelligence, she made up for in other ways, although he'd rather die than admit that out loud.

“Be grateful it wasn’t your dominant hand,” Herbert said, finishing up on her arm. He stood and found an old sling, leaning around her to hook it on. He froze for a moment, even after all the chaos and blood and sweat, he faintly smelled something, honey? He leaned away, acting like he didn’t just smell her hair like some kind of creep. Rubi didn’t seem to notice, adjusting the sling so her arm was comfortable, “Thanks, West. What do we do about..?” She couldn’t finish her sentence, looking out the door with worry. Herbert sighed, “Hopefully it will get hit by a car or something...”

Rubi looked at him in horror, before blinking, “Was... was that a joke?” He smiled slightly, “Morbid humor is not out of my range, Rubi. Yes, it was a joke. The real problem is that it might come back, and we’re both fairly incapacitated,” he had begun cleaning the gash on his arm, pulling out a suture kit to stitch his arm with, “I’ll call Dan, tell him what happened. He won’t be happy about your arm,” Herbert stitched his arm up with ease, as Rubi watched quietly, “First thing he told me when you decided to genuinely start working with us, ‘Don’t let her get hurt.'”

“You’re worried about getting in trouble?” Rubi muttered incredulously, causing Herbert to frown, “I’m more concerned with Daniel’s senseless prattling about you being in danger. You knew what you signed up for, that there might be problems.”

Rubi nodded, although she was beginning to get irritated at how he didn't seem to care that much that they'd both been hurt. She stood and left the room, muttering something about needing to go to bed.


	6. Chapter 6

Rubi woke up angry. Now that the adrenaline was all out of her system, she went over the events of the night before. Herbert foolishly reanimated some heavyweight boxer who had keeled over suddenly, and it had one hell of a fit. Rubi sat up, her body aching, bruises were all over her body. She was in worse shape than she’d originally thought. Definitely had more than just a broken arm. She was a lot more rational today, and she was beginning to think Herbert not only had no self-care, but no care for those around him.

Stomping into the shed, or rather, limping angrily, she shoved the door open, “You bastard!” She said angrily. Herbert turned to look at her in question, “Ah, I was wondering when you were coming in here. It’s almost 7am,” she ignored his tone and yelled, “West you are probably the worst person I’ve ever met. If you weren’t paying rent I probably would have kicked you out by now.”

“Are you saying this because...?” He seemed irritated, but Rubi continued, “Because my fucking arm got broken, because you’re making the most unholy things I’ve ever seen in my fucking life, we could have died last night! Are you so wrapped up in your own little world that you don’t realize how easily one or both of us could die?!”

Herbert let her rant for a few minutes. When she finally stopped to breathe, he said, “Did you get it out of your system? I realize you probably are incredibly irritated but you must remember, you quit your job to do this.”

“Do you have any fucking clue how hard it is to go back to ‘normal’ after killing horrific zombie creatures? It’s impossible. I can’t even think about doing anything normal at this point! And it’s not like I can go to therapy for this!! I should have just called the cops that night the zombie came to my room!” She had turned to leave but he stopped her with an iron grip, “You can’t.”

“Afraid of prison, West?” She sneered, “This shit is a crime against everything moral! How can you even think of doing this shit and think you’re in the right?!” His grip was tight, and Rubi tugged slightly, he was stronger than she had first thought, “The last time someone interfered with my work, I decapitated his head with a shovel,” Rubi felt that sense of dread from the night she locked eyes with him, “J... Jesus Christ, West...,” she whispered, terrified for a moment.

“My work is very important, Ms. Blue,” she cringed at him using her last name, “I’d like you to remember that. Now then, you obviously cannot help much right now, not until your arm heals,” he released her, “Call Daniel and tell him to come over,” she yanked her arm away from him, turning away as he walked back to his desk, “Fuck you,” she muttered, even more irritated when she got no reaction from him, “Fine...,” leaving the room, she went to go call Dan.

Herbert sat in his makeshift lab, fuming. She couldn’t go to the police, and even if they did, there was no way they’d believe her! She’d make a fool of herself! She had no respect for his work, she didn’t understand how important it was. He would make her see, once he got it right.

—

Rubi sat on her couch, irritation still running through her. She’d done small, petty things throughout the day; she “accidentally“ lost Herbert’s place in the book they’d been sharing (not that he seemed to care), she “forgot” to make sure he was eating food (he didn’t even notice), and she had doodled a picture of him and scribbled all over it, with the words “Hateful bastard” above it, conveniently leaving it out for both Dan and Herbert to see (he had crumpled the paper up and threw it away.)

Dan had been unsurprised to see that they weren’t getting along, along with the fact that Rubi had been injured. He talked Herbert’s ear off, telling him he needs to protect his work partners in situations like this, especially if he was paying to live in their home.

Rubi sulked in the living room when Dan came to sit beside her, “I’m sorry,” he said, “He means well, I think,” he didn’t sound so sure, “He’s just kinda... like that,” Rubi turned to him, just as irritated at him, “Why do you defend him? Or for that matter, how are you friends with him? You’re really nice and you don’t seem like the kind of person to get caught up in all this,” Rubi seemed so confused, sulking again. Dan shrugged, “He considers me a friend, I think. I don’t mind him at this point, he tends to start caring a little more as he gets to know someone. It took him a few months before he started just calling me Dan instead of Daniel and even then he still goes full name.”

“He called me Ms. today. I don’t like being called that, it’s too formal...,” she pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them, “Ouch, sorry. Sounds like you upset each other... easy to do though, and I don’t blame you if you blew up on him...”

Rubi sighed, “Thanks Dan. Listen I don’t want anything to do with Herbert until I’m all good cuz I really just...,” she looked up, seeing Herbert standing in the doorway. He glanced at Rubi, then turned to Dan, “If you’re done humoring her, we need to get back to work.”

Rubi glowered, standing, “Maybe you should take a fucking step back Mister ‘My glow stick liquid is gonna save the world’ and realize the world doesn’t revolve around you and your stupid science project.”

Herbert looked angry, inhaling sharply at the insult, “When you’re finished acting like a child we can talk, but I am not going to stoop to your level with petty and meaningless insults.”

“No, go for it. Insult me. Call me stupid, I know you’ve been dying to since the day we met. Call me a bubbleheaded gothic bitch who has too much feeling despite being so into the macabre. Fucking insult me you awful, nerdly, obsessive, weasel of a man!!”

That did it, Herbert raised his voice slightly, anger very plain on his face, “Despite the fact that you are an adult, you look and act like some frivolous child going through a rebellious phase because your parents didn’t let you when you were younger. You want to come across as intimidating but in reality you are but a scared young woman trying desperately to fit in while acting like you don’t wish to. You’re angry with me, yes, but I’m not the one who made you quit your job to go traipsing with corpses while working with a man you hardly know, thinking you could possibly form some kind of ridiculous bond with him in the process. It doesn’t matter! None of it matters! Because at the end of the day you still feel small and insignificant, and nothing you do can change that!”

Rubi stood there for a moment, letting the words set in, before finally saying, “Get the fuck out of my house. You can stay in your stupid shed but get out of my fucking house.”

“Gladly,” with that, Herbert turned and left. Rubi sank into the couch, grabbing a pillow and screaming into it for a couple of minutes. Dan awkwardly apologized again and snuck out of the room, catching up to Herbert, “You really shouldn’t have said all that, it wasn’t nice.”

“And her calling me a weasel was any nicer?” Herbert asked. He was still fuming. That horrible woman, he thought, he was grateful she was currently incapacitated so she wouldn’t be some stupid distraction. Dan sighed, “No it wasn’t but you’ve been kind of mean to her. I mean… she’s letting you use her shed.”

Herbert opened the door and turned on the light, “I don’t need to be nice to- WHAT THE HELL?!” He was jumped suddenly by a very large opossum, the one with the ripped ear. Dan struggled to get the giant opossum off Herbert as it tried to bite him, hissing, “Daniel get this thing off me!” He yelled. Rubi, hearing the screams, ran outside, “What the fuck-,” she started to say, only to stop when she saw Dan holding a very angry opossum, and Herbert covered in scratches and bite marks.

“Gerald, apparently, doesn’t like that you took his shed,” Rubi said calmly, walking over and taking Gerald from Dan, “Hi baby boy, do you want to come do some art with me?” She asked the opossum in a babytalk voice. Herbert fixed his glasses, “That creature attacked me and you’re treating it like a toddler?” He stood up and dusted himself off, frowning in irritation, “Maybe you deserved it,” Rubi said, leaving to go back inside, opossum in tow. Herbert stared in disbelief.


	7. Chapter 7

Rubi sat in her art studio, smiling at Gerald as he plopped around in the paint she set up. The giant opossum was always friendly with her and seemed to really like these little art days she had, at least that’s what Neighbor always told her.

She glanced at the door, her mind wandering to her egocentric roommate. She hadn’t really talked to him in a couple of months, mostly just passing phrases as she went to make sure he hadn’t died. She didn’t do it because she wanted to, she just didn’t want another dead body on her property with no explanation.

She felt something smack her leg lightly and she looked down to see Gerald, plopping one of his little feet on her leg. Smiling, she picked him up, “You’ve been eating someone’s cat food again haven’t you? You’ve gotten bigger,” she grinned at the opossum, who seemed to relish in the attention, “Come on let’s get you cleaned up and you can show Neighbor your art later!”

She walked to the kitchen to clean him and, after struggling with washing the paint off him, set him down on the floor. Sighing, she pulled some food out, stopping for a moment when she heard Gerald hiss. Turning to look at him, she placed her hands on her hips, “You know I can’t let him starve. We don’t need yet another dead body. Besides, considering he injects himself with his stupid reagent he’d probably reanimate himself and I don’t want to deal with that.”

Gerald huffed, waddling over to a corner and lying on the ground. Rubi smiled at the opossum and finished getting food out, taking it out to Herbert.

She hesitated for a moment before softly knocking on the door. The door opened and Herbert, looking incredibly tired and pale, stood there before looking at the food. He inhaled, stood there for a moment, and then said, “Excuse me for a moment,” before walking quickly to her house. Rubi followed after in confusion, seeing him run to the sink as he made horrible retching sounds. Gerald looked up from his spot before going back to sleep.

“What the fuck, West? Are you sick?” Rubi couldn’t help it, as much as she disliked him, she didn’t like anyone not feeling well, “Come on you need to rest.”

“I can’t,” he said weakly, “I’m very close to a breakthrough,” he gagged, leaning over the sink again. Rubi grabbed his glasses before they fell off his face, “No you’re gonna fucking rest. You can’t do anything like this. I’ll call Dan,” she gently grabbed him by the shoulders and led him to the room he hadn’t used in months, forcing him to lie down and placing a trash can next to him, “When did this start?”

“Why are you asking-,” she cut him off, “Answer the question, West.”

“...Last night,” he sighed, lying his head back on the pillow, “Why are you acting so out of sorts over this? I’ve been sick before and it never-,” he stopped, visibly paling as a wave of nausea passed through him and he leaned over to vomit again. Rubi folded her arms, “Stay here I’ll be back,” she left the room to call Dan.

\--

“You have a real bad stomach virus,” Dan said, pushing Herbert back down, “Rubi’s gonna keep me updated, I’m gonna go to a doctor to get you medicine, and you’re gonna stay here till you get better, okay?” Herbert practically rolled his eyes, leaning back, “I’m not a child, Daniel.”

“Just make sure he doesn’t get out of bed, he’ll be fine in a few days,” Dan said softly to Rubi. She nodded and waved goodbye as he left, coming to sit down by Herbert’s bedside, “How’s it feel to be incapacitated?” Rubi asked, trying not to laugh at Herbert’s glare. She smiled apologetically, “Sorry, that was mean. I’m sorry you’re sick.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. I don’t understand why you do that,” he muttered, irritated. Rubi sighed, “It’s a sympathy thing, West. Not something you would understand, I think,” she smirked when he grumbled something about sympathy being weak.

“Are you gonna be okay?” Rubi asked him. He looked at her in confusion, “Why are you suddenly so attentive. Last time you talked to me, you told me to get out of your home,” he didn’t understand why she was being nice. She just shrugged, “No one likes being sick. Just because I don’t like you that much doesn’t mean that I’m gonna be a dick while you feel like garbage.”

“Your language is atrocious,” he muttered, causing her to chuckle, “Yeah I’m not very ‘ladylike’ when it comes to my colorful vocabulary. But it’s a habit, hun,” he frowned at her Southern accent popping into her voice, “I’ve been swearing since I was 12 years old.”

“Where exactly are you from?” Herbert couldn’t pinpoint her accent. She grinned, “Texas. I try not to let my accent slip through cuz it makes people stare at me funny, but y’all kind of talk weird up here in Massachusetts,” she grinned, relaxing slightly in her chair, “You should try sleeping, it might help you feel better.”

“How on earth am I supposed to sleep when you’re sitting right there?” Herbert asked. Rubi picked up a book from the bedside table, opening it, “Just pretend I’m not here. It’s not like I’m gonna smother you with a pillow or something, you’re paying me to live here.”

Herbert made a small noise of disapproval over the joke, but leaned back and shut his eyes, trying to relax. He did feel awful, and, while he and Rubi obviously had their different views, he supposed he appreciated someone was there to make sure he didn’t die suddenly.

He felt himself slipping, finally falling into, what he hoped would be, a deep, dreamless sleep.

\--

He awoke in the dark with no idea what time it was, but he was aware that he couldn’t move. Sleep paralysis, he assumed. He was lying still, trying to wait it out, when he heard the door rattle slightly. A green glow appeared under the door, and his eyes narrowed in question. Perhaps he was asleep still? The door opened and a figure, silhouetted in shadow approached him. His eyes adjusted as a green glow filled the room and, to his confusion, the figure looked like some, strange, dark eyed form of Rubi.

She simply smiled and placed a hand on his forehead, “You’re asleep, and I’m going to talk to you for a moment,” her voice, very strongly Rubi’s but with a twinge of his own echoing, unnerved him more than he would let on, “Why do you fight every opportunity to embrace some form of normality?”

Herbert wanted to open his mouth, but he couldn’t, “You wish to view yourself as above those around you, you find emotion a weakness, but emotion and empathy kept you from vomiting till you died. If she hadn’t found you, you would have surely perished.”

He watched her move around the room, eerily graceful and fluid, her short, dark hair tipped with a neon green not unlike his reagent flowing around her round face, green liquid oozing from her eyes, “Emotion is part of what makes a human being, human. Just because you do not wish to feel them, does not mean you can’t, and you’ve felt some very strong emotions over the last few months,” she meant his irritation and anger; his irritation with Rubi and her insulting nature, his anger over not getting any kind of breakthrough with his work, the whole strange scenario he found himself in at this point in time. His eyes trailed away from the terrifying visage of his roommate, before looking back at her, now looming over the bed, face to face with him.

“You have forgotten where you came from, Herbert,” hearing Rubi’s voice and his own speaking together was continuing to unnerve him, to the point where he desperately wanted to get out of the bed, but he felt like he was strapped to the bed, frozen, watching Rubi’s face morph into different faces, his own, his mother’s, his father’s, Dan’s, Megan’s, Dr. Gruber, Dr. Hill, all while saying, “Those around you constantly hurt because of your own hubris. Someday, perhaps, you will relent and realize how futile your work truly is, but until then, the most you should be able to do is be as human as you can be. Stop being so selfish and do something else with your life for a little while. Make friends. Fall in love. Emote. Stop pursuing this goal, even for a small time,” the form, still shifting between people he knew, leaned away, the light dimming around him, “It’s time to wake up, Herbert West.”


	8. Chapter 8

Herbert hadn’t mentioned his terrifying dreams the night before. He was going to take it to his grave, there was no way he would ever admit that a dream had terrified him more than anything he’d ever seen. Maybe he did need some kind of break from his work. The idea made him frown, he had never taken more than at least ten minutes to take breaks. His dream version of Rubi, her terrifying face morphing into those around him… All except one, he realized.

He decided that, if he absolutely had to take some kind of break, he would go and talk to someone about it. Sitting in the kitchen as Rubi was tidying up, he asked her, “How often does that teenager from next door come over here?”

“Teen- you mean Neighbor?” Rubi asked in surprise, “They’ll probably be over here in like an hour, why?” She seemed suspicious about his intentions, narrowing her eyes at him, “You’re not gonna try experimenting on them are you?”

“Of course not. I need to discuss something with them, is all,” he said, mildly offended that she would automatically assume something so awful. Rubi leaned against her kitchen counter, “They’re probably out in their backyard, you could probably go talk to them. But uh, avoid going through the front, you haven’t met their Parents yet.”

“Parents? I just assumed your neighbor lived on their own for some reason,” Herbert muttered, standing, “I have to talk to them immediately, so I suppose I will go through the back,” he left the room, going through Rubi’s back door and heading to the fence connecting her house to Neighbor’s. He glanced around, not seeing anyone until hearing some rustling in a large tree. He glanced up and saw an opossum, the one with a tuft on their head. They seemed excited and were tugging on the Neighbor’s jacket, “What are you doing up there?” Herbert asked.

“What was that? I can’t hear you over how excited Martha is right now,” Neighbor responded, attempting to climb down the tree, Martha crawling after them, “She likes you,” Neighbor picked up the opossum and held her up so Herbert could look at her. He smiled uneasily, before looking at the teen, “Um… I needed to discuss something with you.”

“Are you going to let me drink some of that weird glowy stuff you work with? I’ve been really curious about it for a couple weeks now, but I couldn’t go visit you because Rubi said you were currently experiencing the Silent Treatment,” Neighbor moved so Martha was resting on their shoulders, “That’s… You can’t drink that, it’s not a drink, who knows what it would do to your body. That’s not what I need to talk to you about, I had a dream last night and you’re the only person that came to mind when it comes to unusual things like this.”

“Give me some of that glowstick juice and we’ll talk,” Herbert backed away as they climbed the fence easily, Martha staying on their shoulders, “Also Martha wants to hang out with you because she thinks you’re neat,” Herbert looked at the opossum, who seemed to be grinning at him. He sighed, “If you ever tell Rubi that I gave you some of this, I’ll never hear the end of it. It’s bad enough that she tends to insult me for fun, I’d rather she not further insult me,” the two walked to the shed, Herbert glancing at the house to make sure Rubi didn’t see them. Turning the light on, Herbert walked over to a small fridge, opening it and pulling a vial of his reagent out, handing it to the teen. They grinned, opening the vial and downing the liquid in one go. Herbert watched in horror and curiosity, waiting to see if anything happened.

“That tasted funny. Anyway, what did you need help with?” They sat down on the nearby desk, Martha leaving their shoulders and lying down, watching. Herbert adjusted his glasses, “Well, I had a strange dream last night and I figured you would be the only one off the top of my head that I can talk to about this.”

“Lay it on me, West. I wanna know what kind of dream you had,” they grinned. Herbert explained the dream, the terrifying version of Rubi, the shapeshifting, being told how he needs to “take a break,” all of it. He waited for their response.

“It sounds like you’re struggling with a lot of feelings. Rubi being a big part of your dream might be important. Did you ever apologize to her for insulting her a few months back?” They asked, causing Herbert to look surprised, “Did she talk to you about that?” They nodded, “I think the first step you need to do is apologize. Something good could come out of that later on. Thinking less of yourself and more for others is a good way to turn yourself around, it could end up helping you.”

Herbert wasn’t getting the answers he wanted. He wanted to know WHY, “I’m still confused, Neighbor..,” they shrugged, “I’m giving you all the advice I can give, and I don’t think you want to hear Martha’s suggestions. All I can really say is that you should start by trying to be nice to Rubi and apologizing to her,” they hopped off the desk, “Thanks for the glowstick juice! I feel like we’ll be having more talks like this in the future.”

\--

Herbert was once again sitting at the kitchen counter, trying desperately to figure out what to do. He really hated the idea of apologizing, but he desperately wanted to figure out if that would be the way to make the dreams stop. Rubi was baking something, he wasn’t sure what, so she was in the kitchen, focused on putting ingredients back up after using them.

“Rubi…,” Herbert said softly, hesitant on continuing. He’d never apologized for anything before, and he wasn’t entirely sure how to do this. But he wanted to make sure the dream didn’t happen again. Rubi turned and looked at him questioningly. He sighed, “Nothing, I forgot what I was going to say.”

She frowned, but turned away to finish what she was doing. Foolish man, Herbert thought to himself, just apologize and get it over with. You don’t want to deal with that horrifying dream again, “Actually, I needed to talk to you,” he finally said, sitting up straight. Rubi turned and leaned on the counter, “I’m listening, West.”

“I…,” he finally placed his hands on the counter, “I want to apologize, for my behavior. I understand that I must have… offended you, when I insulted you the way I did a few months back. You are providing a place for me to continue my work and I suppose sometimes I forget that I should try being… appreciative of that,” he felt ill, for some reason the idea of apologizing was physically difficult for him.

Rubi’s eyes were wide in surprise, “You’re… Apologizing?” Her eyes narrowed slightly, “How do I know you aren’t trying to get on my good side?”

“Rubi I never apologize. I’m… trying something. Attempting to… I suppose be a little nicer,” He was really struggling, but he was desperate to try anything to make sure last night didn’t repeat itself. Rubi still looked a little suspicious, but finally smiled a little, “Thanks, West. I really appreciate that. If it makes you feel better, I’m sorry too. I should have been a little nicer to you too, and I was already frustrated because of my arm being broken and being in a lot of pain already. I understand that working with you is dangerous, considering what you do. But, Herbert,” she frowned, “You ought to try practicing a little more caution, for yourself and for the people working with you. Last thing I want is me or Dan having to be reanimated by you because we died in the crossfire, or one of us stupidly reanimating you if you die.”

“I will take this criticism and… try to apply it,” he told her, “I’m… going to try taking a longer break, perhaps I can pick up one of those hobbies you keep telling me to try,” she snorted, “You’ll be thinking about your reagent almost immediately. I know you well enough at this point to know that you hate breaks…,” she looked at him questioningly, “What exactly brought all this on?”

“Well I was talking to Neighbor and she-,”

“They,” Rubi interrupted. Herbert looked at her in confusion, “What?” Rubi stood up, folding her arms, “Neighbor’s nonbinary. They go by they/them pronouns. They aren’t a boy or a girl.”

Oh. He’d called them the wrong pronouns, “My apologies, that was unintentional. They told me that perhaps I am a bit overworked and it is intervening into my dreams.”

“I’ve been telling you that you needed a legitimate break. Glad someone finally talked some sense into you,” Rubi chuckled. Herbert took his glasses off and placed them on the counter, rubbing his eyes, “I will admit now that taking a ‘legitimate break’ is going to be very difficult for me.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Rubi leaned on the counter across from him, grinning, and for a moment, Herbert was reminded of the dream form of her, leaning incredibly close to his face. He shuddered slightly and picked his glasses up, placing them back on his face.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They are now tentatively friends. I say tentatively because they still have some issues to work out, but they're getting there. The romantic part is gonna take forever to get to tbh cuz I'm trying to go as slow as possible. I want real slow burn.

“Ok, let’s try this again,” Rubi said. Holding Herbert’s hand, she slowly traced the shape on the paper, “Ok, you see how I did that? You try now,” she let go of his hand. Herbert frowned, focusing on the image as he tried to draw. It was a little lopsided, but it was a start, “Nice! Okay, so you need to use references while drawing, usually. I tend to draw stuff from my mind, but when I draw from a reference, it tends to come out 100% better.”

“I see,” Herbert said quietly. If he was completely honest, he was genuinely surprised at how in-depth art actually was. He had always thought it was a silly hobby anyone could do, but he was surprisingly incorrect. He watched as she sketched up something she mentioned dreaming about, watching in fascination as she tidied the sketch up, giving it shadows and depth. It was a horrific monstrosity, but he couldn’t look away. His eyes wandered to her arm, watching as she moved it along gracefully. He noticed her nails were black today, and wondered when she might have painted them. His gaze travelled to her face, watching every micro expression as she drew, her green eyes focused on the picture to the point where she didn’t notice his obvious staring. She wasn’t wearing makeup today, which was probably for the best, since she kept chewing on her lip. His eyes glanced at the top of her head, noticing blonde roots beginning to peek out from the black hair dye, “You need to touch up your hair,” he said offhandedly, looking back at the picture. Rubi stopped and looked at him, “What?”

“Your roots are showing,” he replied, trying to look like he’d been focusing only on the picture. Rubi reached up and touched her head, “Ah dammit I forgot about that. I’ll do it tonight, probably,” she turned and went back to drawing, “What is this, anyway?” Herbert asked.

“Oh, um… Well, I mean, I was thinking about your experiment stuff,” Rubi said sheepishly, “And I remembered you said something about how you reanimated different body parts, that doctor guy who you…,” she trailed off, focusing on the eye in the picture, “Anyway, I thought about that yesterday and this little guy popped into my head.”

“Is it made of fingers?” Herbert asked. Rubi nodded, “It’s kinda cute, in a weird way, I think…,” she stopped and turned it so Herbert could look at it fully, “What do you think?” He looked it over, “I think I could probably make something like that.”

Rubi chuckled, “You probably could, you mad scientist,” he glanced at her, noticing from her genuine smile that she seemed to be enjoying his company. It’s strange, he thought, how the two of them had gone from hating each other to being decent acquaintances. He was going to see Daniel later, Herbert was begrudgingly going to a movie with him, Rubi, and Meg. Dan had been ecstatic about Herbert taking a break from his work and trying “normal” activities, thinking of things to do immediately.

“Earth to Herbert West,” Rubi tapped his shoulder, “What are you thinking about?” She asked. Herbert pushed his glasses up on his nose, “The movie we’re unfortunately going to see. It’s a horror film, isn’t it? Something you picked out?”

“Oh yeah!” Rubi grinned, “Zombie flick. Figured you would like it since zombies tend to be up your alley,” she teased. He frowned, “Are you teasing me?” Rubi smiled mischievously, “I might be. Listen,” she stood, dusting charcoal off her hands, “I’m gonna go shower and do my hair, cuz I honestly forgot we were going to see a movie tonight, if you want you can practice drawing a little more or you can go pull yourself together,” she walked off, “Oh, and be careful, Gerald likes to come in here randomly and if he sees you, he may try to bite you,” she said, disappearing from the room.

Herbert decided not to take that chance, getting up and leaving the room as well. He walked into the living room, seeing Neighbor and one of the opossums, the round one, sleeping on their lap, “Hey West,” they said, waving. Herbert nodded to them, “Which one is that one?”

“Steve,” the opossum lazily lifted his head, looked at Herbert, and laid his head back down, falling asleep instantly, “He’s Martha’s husband.”

Herbert, knowing that opossums didn’t mate for life, nodded slightly and said, “Ah,” before going and sitting down, running a hand through his hair. Neighbor tilted their head, “Where’s Rubi?”

“She’s redyeing her hair, her roots were showing,” Herbert muttered, thinking about her hair. He vaguely remembered seeing her that first time almost two years ago, when she was still blonde. He wondered for a moment, if she would ever let her hair grow out, back to that color. He looked over at Neighbor, who was grinning, “Did you tell her that because you were staring at her?”

Herbert went cold, “No I was… merely observing,” Neighbor didn’t look convinced, “You know staring is weird, right? Like… especially if you were ‘observing’ as you put it. Are you gonna admit you view her as your friend soon?”

Did he consider her his friend? Herbert wasn’t entirely sure, “I… Suppose? Friend might be too strong a term right now, Neighbor. We’re still trying to figure out how to get along,” he thought back to her focused expression, her graceful movement as she drew the horrifying figure on her sketchbook. Friend might be the right word but he wasn’t sure, she still tended to irritate him, usually by droning on about how reanimation seemed to be a crime against nature, although lately she’s been a bit quieter about it.

“I gotta know though,” Neighbor said, “Do you often daydream about her? Oh wait, have you had anymore of those weird dreams?” Herbert blinked at them. Yes, he had been having more of the dreams, but they’d been… different. The dream version of Rubi was always there, taunting him, telling him things about himself that he wouldn’t admit to anyone, usually about his egotism and how it might actually be a problem. He was starting to wonder if Rubi might be part of the problem.

“You know, you’re kinda acting like you might like Rubi a little more than just as a friend,” Neighbor said slyly. Herbert stared blankly at them. What the hell were they meaning by that? Just as he was about to ask, Rubi walked in, hair in a towel, “Oh! Hey, Neighbor. Didn’t hear you come in,” that was a lie and Herbert knew it. She was looking away from them nervously, taking the towel down and shaking her head. Herbert noticed her hair was completely black again. She caught him staring this time and frowned, “Do you often stare at people, West?”

“No, I was just observing that your hair was fully black now,” he said quickly. He wanted to make sure this conversation died before anyone got any ridiculous ideas. He felt like it was already too late, judging from the grin on Neighbor’s face. Rubi stuck her tongue out and tossed the towel onto the couch, “You sure you haven’t suddenly just fallen madly in love with me?”

“Hardly,” Herbert raised an eyebrow, “I don’t do relationships,” Rubi laughed, “I’m only teasing you, West. I know you’re all ‘emotions are uncouth and unnecessary blah blah blah.’”

“Uncouth? I didn’t know you knew words like that,” he muttered. Rubi looked at him for a moment, before grinning, “Are you teasing me?” He looked from Neighbor to her, “I’m attempting to be humorous, yes.”

\--

“And then he teased me! Can you believe it?” Rubi laughed. Dan was surprised, “I can’t believe you managed to get him to do that. Granted it sounded like he was insulting your intelligence but… I mean you seem to have taken it well,” he and Meg shared a look as Rubi chuckled again, “I don’t think he actually meant it this time. I think it was actually a joke, because he smiled a little.”

“I didn’t know you could smile,” Meg said to Herbert. He frowned, “I’m full of surprises, Megan,” he responded. He was… surprisingly having a decent time. The four had gone to a movie and were now eating at a restaurant. Herbert felt strange. He hadn’t really done anything social in a long time, so now that he was doing so, it felt unusual.

“This has been pretty fun, more fun than I’ve had in a while,” Rubi sighed, leaning on the table. Herbert was trying not to stare, but she had decided on wearing her hair in a half up ponytail and it was surprisingly flattering on her. Meg had said it was “cute” and that Rubi should wear it like that more often.

As Herbert and Rubi said goodbye to Dan and Meg, Herbert noticed how Meg and Dan acted together; Dan had his arm around Meg’s waist, and she was leaning into him. How irritating, he thought, absentmindedly scratching his arm. The two walked home, Rubi taking the half ponytail down and shaking her head, “I like the hairstyle, but it makes my head hurt,” she laughed.

“Are we… friends, Rubi?” Herbert asked suddenly. Rubi slowed her walk till she stopped, “Do you want to be?”

“I’m not sure. I believe I’m friends with Daniel at this point, but it’s still difficult to figure out,” he explained, “The same can be said for you as well. You irritate me and yet I prefer your company, sometimes.”

“Aw that’s the sweetest thing you’ve said to me, West,” Rubi teased. Noticing he seemed serious, she shrugged, “We can be friends if you want. I’ve known you for a while at this point, and I think it’s only fair that the next logical step is either we become friends or we become enemies who try to find ways to kill each other.”

“That’s a joke, right?” Herbert asked. Rubi nodded, “Yes, West. It was a joke.”


	10. Chapter 10

“I think he likes you,” Neighbor said, “Or at least, might be kind of attracted to you,” Rubi looked at them incredulously, “Don’t be silly. The day that man decides to fall in love with someone is the day hell freezes over.”

“He’s been staring at you again,” they responded, petting Steve, who was peacefully sleeping again. Rubi scoffed, “He’s scrutinizing me. Probably watching for me to do something stupid so he can justify calling me names again,” she chuckled. Neighbor tilted their head, “I thought you guys were friends now.”

“Kind of,” she replied, placing Gerald in her lap when he waddled over to her, “Friendship is… a weird term to use. We’re more used to each other’s presence now than we used to be. He still likes to argue that his work isn’t morally wrong and could benefit the human race someday or whatever, though,” she started petting Gerald, who sighed in contentment.

“Where’s Martha?” Rubi asked. Neighbor smiled, “She likes Herbert, she’s probably with him,” Rubi paled slightly, “Do you think that’s smart? I mean… he’s gone back to working on his stupid science project. Don’t you think her being around him might be dangerous?”

Neighbor shook their head, “If anything, she’ll chew through wires. But she seems really fond of him. She wants you two to date,” Rubi’s face burned, “We have nothing in common and he’s kind of a bastard. No way in hell are we dating,” she could have sworn Gerald laughed, but didn’t acknowledge it. Neighbor just shrugged, “She seems to think you guys have some kind of chemistry. I kind of see it too, but I’d rather you both figure that out on your own instead of my interfering. Martha likes watching you two because it plays out like some kind of soap opera and she loves those.”

Rubi was a little embarrassed, but laughed it off. Herbert came in, Martha trotting behind him, “I believe I’ve made a friend,” he said, nodding to Martha. Rubi grinned, “Neighbor said she likes you,” her tone turned joking, “She also seems to think we’d make a good couple.”

“Ridiculous,” Herbert responded, heading into a different room. Martha came over and climbed onto the couch next to Neighbor, nudging Steve awake. They seemed to have some kind of silent conversation, and Steve stood, stretching, and waddled off Neighbor’s lap, following Martha as they left the room. Rubi looked at Neighbor in question, “She wanted him to see some notebook Herbert was working on. Said it was kind of like a journal. She’s hoping he can read it because she can’t read,” Rubi smiled awkwardly. She really didn’t understand all the opossum cult stuff, but handled it to the best of her ability.

Herbert walked by again, carrying something he got out of his room, “Where did those two opossums go?” He asked. Rubi shrugged, “I would check your shed, but who knows,” she watched him hurriedly leave the room.

Gerald had been tense the entire time Herbert was in the room, but relaxed when he left. Rubi scratched his head, “Are you jealous of Herbert? You don’t need to be, he’s just my friend, even if he is a weird guy,” Gerald looked up at her and then laid his head back down.

“He doesn’t like Herbert at all. I can’t tell you what he said because I’m not supposed to use words like that,” Neighbor said, “But to sum it up he said Herbert was crazy and you should probably kick him out of your house,” Rubi smirked and looked down at the large opossum, “Now why would I kick out someone who’s giving me a decent income? You never see him! You’re either next door or in my art room,” she snickered. Gerald rolled onto his back, demanding attention.

\--

Herbert stared at the two opossums as they sat on his desk, looking at his notebook. He gently pushed them out of the way, “I know neither of you can read, as intelligent as you are, so nice try,” he wasn’t sure when he decided the opossums were alright to have around, but they had just decided to start following him, the female especially.

He sat down at the desk, looking at them, “Martha, why do you enjoy my presence,” he stared at the opossum, hoping to get some kind of answer out of her. She just stared back, tilting her head slightly, before turning to Steve and nudging him. Sleepily, Steve looked from Martha to Herbert, then waddled over and jumped into Herbert’s lap, causing him to make a distressed sound, “You’re quite heavy, what have you been eating?”

Martha jumped off the desk, running out of the room. Herbert, currently stuck with a giant opossum in his lap, simply sighed, wondering where she was running off to. A few moments later she was back, Rubi following behind, “Neighbor said Martha needed me to follow her for some… reason?” She started snickering, “Um… do you need some help?”

“No, I was just having a wonderful time with this large and very sleepy marsupial in my lap,” he muttered. Rubi sighed and walked over, picking Steve up, “Come on sleepy man, Herbert’s lap isn’t an ideal place for sitting,” she set him down gently on the floor. Steve looked up at her sleepily, then laid his head on the floor, falling asleep. Herbert, now free to stand, stood up and brushed his pants, “I have dirt on me, has he been rolling around in dirt again?”

“Wouldn’t have this problem if you didn’t wear dress pants all the damn time,” Rubi chuckled. Herbert frowned, “Well I’m not going to dress ‘casual’ as you would put it. I’ve never dressed casually in my life,” he glanced down at the sleeping opossum, “Why did he decided to sleep on me?”

“Who knows. Steve is the most chill out of all the opossums,” Neighbor said, appearing in the doorway, “From what I’m thinking, Martha probably told him to because then you would be stuck, then she ran to get Rubi and bring her in here, so she could pick up Steve and try to bring the two of you closer together.”

Rubi and Herbert looked at one another, then turned to Neighbor, who smiled, “She thinks you two are cute.”

They looked at each other again, before Rubi started laughing, and Herbert just fiddled with his glasses, “Your opossums need to calm down with the weird romantic stuff. I don’t think Herbert and I are gonna be thinking of each other in any other way than just friends.”

“You keep saying that, but I’m beginning to wonder if you’re trying to tell yourselves that more than me,” Neighbor replied, picking up a still sleeping Steve, “Might want to think about that.”

\--

Rubi was lying in her bed later that night, trying to figure out why on earth everything seemed to be forcing her with Herbert. Sure, she viewed him as a friend now, but the idea of having romantic feelings for him seemed gross and weird. Rolling onto her back, she stared up at her ceiling. She hadn’t really had a relationship in a while, a couple of years at this point. She frowned, memories coming back that she had been suppressing. Her heart ached a little as she remembered her last relationship and how tragically it had ended. She sat up, turning her light on and opening the drawer of her bedside table and pulling a box out. Opening it, she examined the small ring, slipping it on her ring finger. Tears welled in her eyes and she pulled it off, put it back in the box, and shut the drawer. No, she didn’t want to be in a relationship, not yet. And certainly not with someone so… she really didn’t know how to explain Herbert.

Herbert, meanwhile, was dealing with his own confusing feelings. He was frustrated as much as Rubi was that everyone kept saying they looked good together or they seemed to work well together. No one said that about him and Dan, except for one time when Rubi had joked about it. He got up and paced away from his desk, trying to make his mind stop racing. He had never been in a relationship, he had no intention of being in one, regardless of his subconscious screaming at him to do so whenever he actually slept. When he was younger, just a teen, he remembered having feelings for a girl, someone who he honestly thought was interesting. She had been smart, sarcastic, and knew how to put people in their place when they spoke out of turn. She had been the only girl that Herbert had ever found himself attracted to, and it had terrified him. He ended up closing himself off until she moved away, trying desperately to keep himself from feeling nonsensical emotions. No, he didn’t want to be in a relationship, not ever. It was beneath him. Especially with someone like Rubi, someone so different from himself.

He thought back to a conversation the two of them had recently, about the night Rubi had broken her arm, “In my adrenaline rush, you came off as attractive to me,” Rubi had laughed it off, feeling awkward saying it out loud. Herbert, in a strange moment of vulnerability, had admitted he might have sniffed her hair, claiming it was also his adrenaline making him irrational. Rubi had just laughed harder, “I don’t blame you, I had literally showered right before I went to help you, you probably could still smell the shampoo I used!”

Herbert sat down in his chair, opening his notebook, writing down, “Honey scented shampoo. Find name brand,” it was something he did now. Any time he had a strange or irrational thought, about Rubi, the opossums, Neighbor, Dan, any of them, he’d write them down.

He had separate pages for each one. Rubi’s was the longest, with Dan right behind her, and the opossums right after that, and so on. He only assumed he had so many irrational thoughts about them because of how often he interacted with them. The more he interacted, the more irrational his thoughts would get. Some of Rubi’s didn’t even make sense to him, such as, “Frankenstein was the real monster,” something he had heard Rubi say after he finished reading her book. Others made more sense, like “Difficult to explain eye color. Green but not an unpleasant green.”

He saw the light switch on in the kitchen and wondered what Rubi would be doing up at this hour, as it was almost four in the morning. Quietly, he left the shed and walked into the house, opening the door and looking in. Sure enough, Rubi was standing in the kitchen, cooking, her back to him.

“Rubi?” His voice broke her out of her thoughts, and she quickly wiped some unshed tears as she turned around to face him, “Hey West,” her voice broke a little as she tried to hide the fact that she’d been trying not to cry, “What are you doing awake at this hour?” He asked, curious as to what she was doing. She turned around again, “I was uh, I was cooking. Stressed about some stuff, you know?” She sniffed, still trying to fight tears. She hated getting like this.

Herbert, unsure of what was going on, sat at the counter, “I’ve heard that discussing your problems with friends ends up being beneficial and might help explain why you’re trying not to cry,” Rubi sat the bowl she was holding down on the counter, a little too hard, “It’s fine, I’m… I’m fine.”

“You don’t appear fine. Have you gone to therapy over whatever seems to be making you depressed?” She stood there for a moment, tears finally spilling over, and for a moment Herbert felt a little pinch of guilt, “My intention wasn’t to make you cry, I’m-,”

“I loved someone once,” she said, cutting him off. He blinked in surprise. She stood there, still crying, “A couple of years ago, I met this guy, really sweet, you’d have hated him,” she laughed, but it turned into a sob, Herbert had no idea what was happening, but let her continue, “We got engaged after dating for a few years. But… about a month into our engagement he got killed in a car accident. A part of me kind of died that day, I think. I never got over it, and I don’t know if I ever will, you know?”

Herbert was silent. That was a lot more information than he had been prepared for, “I’m… sorry, Rubi,” he was getting better at this apology thing, “Losing someone is…,” he searched for a good word, “Difficult,” that worked, “What brought this on..?” He felt like asking was the best option instead of just letting the conversation die. Part of him was curious, although he couldn’t pinpoint why. A part of him genuinely felt sorry for her, which said a lot on his part.

“I was thinking about how Neighbor said we were denying ourselves and couldn’t sleep because of it,” she sniffed, “And then I… well I thought about him and it all kind of just came crashing down at once,” he noticed she was making something sweet, a cake, and frowned, “You shouldn’t be making something unhealthy for a coping mechanism.”

“Hey West?”

“Yes?”

“Shut the hell up, please.”


	11. Chapter 11

“Are you still drawing those creepy things?” Rubi’s mom asked. Rubi sighed, switching her phone over to her other shoulder as she finished her drawing, “Yeah. Listen, I promise I’m drawing other stuff that’s not creepy. Like… I’m gonna be redrawing your family portrait things so I can send them to you in time for your birthday.”

“Hm, ok,” her mom didn’t sound thrilled. Rubi smiled, her mom was always worried she was too into the spooky stuff. Her smile faded as she thought about all the things she’d been up to, stuff she couldn’t tell her mom. She was listening to her mom talk when Herbert walked into the room.

“Rubi have you seen my- oh. My apologies I didn’t know you were in a phone call,” Herbert immediately walked out of the room. Rubi frowned, wondering what the hell that had been about, when her mom’s voice cut into her thoughts.

“Who was that? Do you have a guest over?” Oh, shit. She hadn’t told her mom about Herbert. Well, better late than never, Rubi decided, “That was uh… That was my roommate. I forgot to tell you about him. He’s studying to be a doctor, I met him the night of the ‘incident’ actually.”

“Rubi! You didn’t tell me you finally found a roommate! Ah, I’m so relieved. Wait, he’s not a boyfriend is he? If he is, I need to meet him sometime. What’s he like? What’s his name?” Rubi’s mom prattled on more questions. Herbert had come back into the room, holding his notebook as he looked confusedly at his friend. He mouthed, “Who’s that?” to her.

“My mom,” Rubi mouthed back. Herbert nodded in understanding and left the room again. Rubi tuned back into the conversation with her mom, “Mom, his name is Herbert and he’s kind of a recluse. We’re only friends, I’m still not quite over…,” she trailed off, her eyes stinging a little.

“Oh honey I’m sorry, I didn’t think about that... I’d love to meet your friend sometime. Oh, dammit, someone’s on the other line. Listen, Rubi, we’ll talk more later, okay? I want to hear more about this Herbert character you’ve become friends with. I love you, bye!!” After a quick, “Love you too,” from Rubi, her mother hung up. Rubi put the phone down and leaned back against the couch. She was pretty convinced that her mom was going to assume things, if she already wasn’t.

Getting up, Rubi decided to walk to the kitchen to make something, when she heard a noise. She walked to the fridge, trying to ignore the strange sound she heard. Opening it, she looked around for a moment, trying to find something, when she heard the noise again. Irritated, she grabbed the first thing she could find, a carrot, and closed the fridge. She looked at it, thinking about how she didn’t eat carrots raw, when the sound came again. Walking over to the window, she looked outside. She didn’t see anything, but her eyes strayed to the forest just past Neighbor’s home.

The sound, almost an echo of something she couldn’t quite understand, seemed to be coming from there. Rubi opened the door to her home, walking outside. Herbert, who had been standing by Neighbor’s fence, talking to them about his reagent, watched as she walked by.

“Um, Neighbor? Where is Rubi going?” Herbert asked. Neighbor turned and watched as Rubi walked by, “Ah, she’s answering the call. This is gonna be interesting.”

Herbert felt a strange pang in his chest, “Hold that thought Neighbor. I felt a strange pain in my chest, I might be dying, or sick, or-,”

“You could always just be jealous that she’s not spending time with you,” Neighbor suggested. Herbert frowned, “Doubtful. She’s going to a forest.”

“A forest that’s known for its paranormal occurrences, as well as apparently drawing her in. You saw that look on her face and wished she looked at you like that.”

“Are you making fun of me for something that isn’t true?”

“Yes.”

\--

Rubi, now deep in the forest, only just realized that she was still holding the carrot in her hand. Confused, she stuck it in her back pocket. She almost fell over in surprise when she saw a deer, the largest one she’d ever seen, staring at her. He turned his head, looking off at something, before walking off. He stopped at a path, turning to look at her again.

“You want me to follow you?” Rubi asked. The deer seemed to nod, before turning and continuing his walk. Rubi followed, curious to where they were going.

The deer stopped and moved out of the way of the clearing. Rubi walked in, looking in surprise at the large pool sitting in the middle of the large clearing. She walked carefully toward the pond. Sitting on her knees, she looked down into the water, trying to see the bottom. She felt like she was going to fall in, she felt a part of her wanting to fall in, to drift down to the murky bottom.

She finally heard the noise, a singular word, “Offering.”

Offering? Rubi didn’t have anything to offer. She felt around herself, trying to find something, when she remembered the carrot from earlier. She pulled it out of her pocket, looking back down into the pool. She was vaguely aware of bubbles rising up to the center when she pulled it out.

Rubi looked at the carrot, and dropped it into the water. She watched it sink down, down, down to the bottom, disappearing from view. The ground seemed to shake around her as the voice came back.

“Acceptable. Ask one question.”

Rubi sat there, trying to think of what was happening, “Will I ever find happiness?”

“You already have. But if you wish for further clarification, wait, one year and one month.”

With that, the voice disappeared, a faint echo in the distance. What did it mean, wait one year and one month? Was she going to find something to make her happy? She stood, now realizing the sky was growing dark. Hurriedly, she ran home, grateful that there was a clear path.

She rushed out of the woods, running to her home and walking inside. She sighed, leaning against the door, when she noticed Herbert and Neighbor staring at her, “Oh,” she said awkwardly, “Hello.”

“Why are you glowing?” Herbert asked in shock. Rubi looked at him in confusion before he stood, walked over, and turned off the light. Sure enough, Rubi was glowing. She looked at Neighbor in confusion.

“You were given information today,” was Neighbor’s only response, before saying goodnight and leaving. Rubi and Herbert stared at each other, trying to figure out what happened, and why it happened.

\--

The glow had been gone for a couple of hours, but Rubi still had several questions. She wondered if she could go to the forest again another time, with more “offerings” to give whatever might be in that lake. Herbert was convinced she had some kind of strange hallucination, even though he couldn’t explain the glowing.

“Hey Herbert,” Rubi muttered, feeling sleepy. He looked up from his notebook in question. She stretched, standing up and walking over to the shed door.

“You’ve been living here almost a year now. You think we should throw a party or something?” She asked. Herbert turned and looked at her, “What?”

“A party, you know? Like… I dunno a small get-together. It could be just us, Meg and Dan since it’ll be a year for them too. Listen, the new year came and went and we didn’t do anything. I’m pretty sure your birthday passed and you said nothing. My birthday passed but I never celebrate it so that’s fine. We should celebrate having known each other for a year!”

Herbert leaned back in his chair, looking at her quietly. Leaning forward, he finally said, “Alright. I suppose we could do that. Daniel and Meg would be on board for something as trivial as a party. But only the four of us. I feel like anyone else would be too much.”

“Neighbor has to come too.”

“Very well.”

\--

The month passed quickly. Herbert had been focusing on his work. But over the last two weeks specifically leading up to this ridiculous party, he’d been working on a side project of sorts. He wasn’t one to give gifts, but he felt that since Rubi was taking this whole ordeal so seriously, he might as well, too.

Rubi had gone out and bought him a gift, he knew that much. She’d been really shifty after coming home one day, making a beeline to her room with an unmarked bag.

He set down what he was working on, frustrated. Stitching small parts together was proving far more difficult than he’d initially realized. Glancing at the clock and seeing how late it was, he took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. He’d been working on this project for roughly a full day and a half.

He was grateful Rubi hadn’t tried coming to the shed during the time. He stood, stretching. Herbert realized pretty quickly that he was getting used to taking short breaks, and had gotten to the point of almost enjoying them. Walking out of the shed, Herbert looked out into the night sky.

“You’re taking a break at a really weird time,” Neighbor’s voice came from their tree. Herbert turned to look at them, noticing Martha with them. She excitedly scrambled down the tree and over the fence. She ran to his feet, rolling onto her back, as if expecting to be pet.

Herbert, without really thinking, picked the opossum up and held her, scratching her head, “I forget how used to you and your opossum clan I’ve gotten. Then something like this happens and I’m reminded of how abnormal it is.”

Neighbor grinned, “What are you doing in there, anyway? You’ve been cooped up for a while and Rubi was kinda worried.”

“I’m… making her a gift.”

“See this is why I think you guys actually like each other a lot more than you realize,” Neighbor hopped out of their tree, coming over and climbing the fence till they were resting their head on it.

“Gift giving is normal between friends, Neighbor. You got her a dress and she got you some brand of cat food you’ve been asking for.”

“That was a totally unrelated thing. I needed the food for the opossums and my mom saw the dress and thought of Rubi. Speaking of which, you need to meet my parents sometime. They’ve been asking about you.”

“Lovely,” Herbert muttered, looking down at Martha. Despite that she was an opossum with a small range of facial expressions, she looked like she was enjoying his attention, “Does she feel some kind of fondness for me or something? I’ve noticed she in particular seems interested in me.”

“Oh yeah Martha’s crazy about you. Kinda like how Gerald likes Rubi. She calls you Mr. West.”

“Ah, formality.”

He put Martha down and she scurried back over the fence to Neighbor, “Do you think…,” Herbert started to say, but stopped.

“Think what, West?”

“Nevermind, it isn’t important,” he wasn’t sure why he was thinking it, but he wondered about if Rubi would find herself in some kind of relationship within the next year. He’d been thinking about it a lot lately, but chalked it up to worrying that soon both his lab partners would be too busy with their respective love lives to help him with his work.

Neighbor seemed to notice what he was thinking and smiled, “She doesn’t seem like the type of girl to ditch her friends once she finds a boyfriend, you know. She’s too nice for that.”

“I wasn’t… It’s not important,” Herbert restated, even though it didn’t really make sense in context.

Neighbor hopped off the fence, walking to their house, “Look, whatever you’re doing for her, I’m pretty sure she’ll like it. No matter how much glowstick juice you use.”

With that, they went into their home, and Herbert stood there for a couple more minutes, thinking about his idea. Finally, he went back into the shed, ready to hopefully finish his work.

\--

“I can’t believe he’s been living here a year and you haven’t tried to kill him yet,” Meg joked. Rubi just shrugged and laughed, “I’ve threatened him with the metal bat I keep in my room but he’s kind of straightened out a little.”

Herbert rolled his eyes. He always felt so out of place at things like this. Parties, even small get-togethers like this one, made him uncomfortable. He appreciated Daniel’s company, even if Meg still didn’t have many kind words to say toward Herbert, but he felt like he needed to get away.

Rubi seemed like she was having fun, at least. She had been talking with Meg for a couple of hours. Herbert had only paid attention when he was involved, but most of the time he tuned it out, thinking about the creation in his workspace.

“Oh! Herbert,” Rubi grabbed his arm, causing him to jump in surprise, “I have to get your gift. I thought it’d be nice to, you know, get you something.”

She left, running to her room. Herbert felt a little put on the spot, Meg scrutinizing him as he shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other.

“I’m back, sorry. I had to find it,” Rubi held up a small present, “I wanted to find something kind of meaningful, but that proved to be kinda difficult cuz you like some really morbid things. Anyway, um… here,” she handed it to him.

Opening it, he realized it was a copy of Frankenstein. He looked up in surprise, “It was kind of the first thing we liked together,” Rubi explained, “I thought, you know, it might be cool to have your own copy? I drew some stuff on the inside of the cover, I thought you’d like it.”

“It’s very thoughtful of you,” Herbert said, surprisingly sincere. He hoped his gift was just as sincere. He was beginning to wonder if he shouldn’t have tried quite so hard with his gift to her.

Meg and Dan smiled, looking at each other quietly, before Meg leaned over and said something to Dan.

“Hey, Herbert,” Dan said, “Meg and I are thinking of leaving for the night. She’s gotta get up kind of early and I have to, too.”

“If you must absolutely go, then by all means,” Herbert was ready for them to leave. Rubi smiled and said, “It was really nice having you guys over for this party thing. It… kinda means a lot.”

They grinned and said their goodbyes. Soon it was just Herbert and Rubi, “I wish Neighbor hadn’t had to leave so early, but their parents don’t like them being out too late,” Rubi muttered, looking at the clock. Herbert nodded in understanding. They were a teenager, after all. It made sense that even they would have some sort of curfew, despite all the strange things they got themselves into.

“I have a present for you, too,” Herbert said quickly. Rubi perked up in surprise and turned to him, “Wha-? Really? You got me something?”

“More like, created something. Come with me,” he motioned for her to follow him to the shed. When they arrived, he opened the door and let her inside. Sitting on his desk was a small package. Herbert noticed it was still and worried for a moment that it might not be alive, but it suddenly jerked and he grinned.

Rubi, curious, walked over to it. She gingerly unwrapped the box, finally pulling the lid of. Inside was a small creature, made of stitched up fingers, with a single eye protruding from it. Her eyes widened as she said softly, “It’s like what I drew..?”

“That drawing you did, the day you attempted to teach me drawing, it stuck in my mind for weeks,” Herbert explained, “I finally decided to bring it to life for you. I knew I could reanimate parts thanks to what happened with another person I knew,” he shuddered slightly at the memory, “So I realized small parts could most likely be reanimated in this kind of fashion.”

The creature crawled out of the box, looking up at Rubi, as if in question. She was at a loss for words. If this had happened a year ago, she would have screamed in terror and run away. But she’d seen horrific zombies, killed them, watched the dead be brought to life… this was the calmest thing she had seen while also being the most erratic.

Holding out her hand, she watched the creature crawl on to it. It looked at her and jumped, as if happy to see her being so nice to it. Gently she sat it back down, “You brought something to life… for me?”

“As your colleague and friend, I felt like a gift that was considered meaningful was in order. You had put a lot of effort into the design, and I thought it would be fascinating to see-,” he was cut off by her wrapping her arms around him and pulling him in for a hug.

“Normally I’d be freaked out, but you were legitimately thinking of me and that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever done! Thank you,” she laughed.

Herbert stood there dumbly for a moment. When was the last time he’d been hugged? He honestly couldn’t remember. Perhaps when he was younger and still lived with his parents. As if on instinct alone, he wrapped his arms around her as well, hugging her back as his face rested against her shoulder.

“I feel odd,” he muttered, his face burning. He didn’t realize how long he had missed having someone hold him, or even touch him for that matter.

“You’re probably touch starved,” Rubi laughed, “When’s the last time you had someone act like this with you?”

“…A while,” he replied, unsure of if he should let go. On one hand, it was playing with his emotions and he hated that. But on the other hand, he felt an odd sense of comfort he had long forgotten about.

Finally, the two parted and she grinned at his embarrassed face, “You will tell no one this happened. The last thing we need is more fuel to the fire that is everyone believing we have romantic feelings for one another,” he said, completely embarrassed about how vulnerable he felt.

Rubi nodded, feeling similar, “We’ll just keep that to ourselves.”


	12. Chapter 12

“You know,” Rubi smiled, “Meg and Dan probably thought you had something else in mind when you dragged me off to the shed, considering you practically dragged me away as they were leaving the house.”

Herbert felt his face go red, “What on earth does that mean?”

“Oh, you know,” she casually leaned on the counter, “That you might do more than just experiment on dead bodies,” she raised her eyebrows suggestively. Herbert was caught off guard for a moment before realizing she was joking. He chuckled, “If anyone thinks I do anything other than experiment with bodies, they must not know me very well.”

Rubi snorted, “I feel like finding out you commit acts against god is a rite of passage before becoming your friend.”

“Actually, I believe taking down something attacking me is more accurate. Did I tell you that Dan found out what I was doing by helping me with a reanimated cat?”

“What?! No, he didn’t! Holy shit West… I suppose that makes sense that you would test on animals first.”

“Oh, I didn’t. First test was on a fellow associate and also my mentor.”

“Whoa what the fuck really? What happened?”

Herbert sighed, “It went poorly, of course. The dosage was too large. He sort of... exploded. Quite violently.”

“Was he already dead before or..?”

Herbert looked almost sad, “He was indeed. He had been helping me with the experimenting and had wanted to be tested. Of course, in order for that to happen, he would have to...”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It was in the name of science.”

Rubi still felt bad. Then had an idea, “If I died... would you reanimate me?”

Herbert stared at her for what felt like hours, before finally saying in a soft voice, “Yes.”

“Why?”

He frowned, “For starters, the possibility of you being reanimated successfully might be higher depending on how quickly you die,” yikes, “And... I would... miss your company...”

He looked so embarrassed saying it out loud, but Rubi simply smiled. She reached over and patted his hand, “Hey just admit you care about me and value my companionship already.”

“Rubi if I say something like that out loud I feel as though I would expire.”

The two laughed quietly amongst themselves, comfortable to make jokes with one another.

Rubi glanced at the window, balking slightly as she noticed Martha practically breathing on the window, watching them.

“Herbert look,” she pointed, “I didn’t realize we were putting on a show,” Herbert mused. Rubi got an idea and winked at Herbert, who just looked confused.

“Watch her and tell me what she does when I touch your hand ok?” She reached over and gently placed her hand on top of his. He almost genuinely laughed when Martha scratched the window screen, hopping in excitement.

“Seems we have a fan who really likes the idea of us together,” he chuckled.

Rubi smiled, not moving her hand as she turned to Herbert. He hadn’t said anything about it yet, and she wanted to see how long she could go before he asked her to move her hand.

Herbert, of course, was smart enough to realize what game she was playing, and simply propped his book in his lap, using his free hand to turn pages. They sat like that for about an hour before Rubi finally gave up and moved her hand.

“I’m very competitive when I want to be,” Herbert said triumphantly. Rubi whipped her head around, “You knew! Bastard!!” She playfully hit his shoulder. Herbert just smirked and went back to his book.

—

“He called me an airhead the other day but he said it with a sort of fondness I hadn’t heard before,” Rubi said as she and Meg sat down at a table.

“Maybe he’s finally in love with you,” Meg joked. Rubi almost choked in her drink, “Trust me Meg, we’re only friends.”

“Look I’m just saying, but I heard the two of you bantering about something and it sounded a lot like flirting.”

Rubi blushed, “Nah it wasn’t flirting. I don’t think Herbert would even know where to begin with flirting.”

Meg didn’t seem so sure but shrugged it off as they talked about how their weeks had been.

Herbert, meanwhile, was having a crisis. He was still thinking about Rubi touching his hand earlier. He wasn’t sure why.

Deciding to try pushing it out of his mind, at least until he could talk to someone about it, he went to the shed. Rubi and Dan had managed to grab a practically new dead body for him to experiment on, and he was considering cutting it up and using only parts again, like with the finger creature.

He thought about Rubi again and came to a screeching halt. He stood, frozen for a moment, before he heard a noise and slowly turned to see Neighbor staring at him.

“What’s on your mind, West?” They asked. He frowned, wondering if he should talk to them about this.

“How do I get rid of blossoming feelings for someone?”

“Oh!! So you finally started realizing you like Rubi?” Neighbor was hiding their excitement. Herbert seemed less enthused.

“I want it to stop before it gets worse,” he explained. He was pretty sure it was only admiration or minor infatuation right now but he was trying not to think about how warm she felt when she hugged him earlier, a habit she had decided to start after the party had shown how touch starved he was.

Shaking his head, refocusing, he frowned at Neighbor, “How do I make it stop?”

“You know... you should ask...,” they pointed to the forest. He looked at them with a deadpan expression.

Neighbor held up a rather large head of broccoli, “Just humor me, West.”

Grabbing it, he sighed, “I haven’t got a choice do I.”

—

He walked, cautious, into the forest. This was a stupid idea, he thought. He stopped, looking around as he wondered for a moment if he’d gotten lost.

A large deer walked up, startling him. He watched it turn to a pathway and walk down it, turning to look back at him. Herbert took a cautious step forward, watching the deer mimic his movement. He followed the deer further into the forest, coming upon the giant, dark lake. He walked toward it, looking down into it.

He looked at the vegetable in his hand, looking down at the lake again and dropping it in. He waited.

“Your gift… Is acceptable… Nonbeliever…,” the voice shook the ground, knocking Herbert to the forest floor. He looked around wildly, before standing up again, “Ask your question…”

Herbert inhaled, “I’ve been feeling strangely for someone as of late. I can’t talk to her about it, I can’t talk to anyone about it. I don’t know what to do and I want to make this feeling go away. I care about this person, genuinely, more than I have for anyone in a while. And I think I’m terrified. I don’t know if I want to feel this way. I don’t feel like I should be allowed to feel this way, to care about people. She doesn’t feel the same way, and I suppose… my question is how do I make these feelings go away so things can return to normal?”

He waited, suddenly anxious for saying so much. What he had for certain was infatuation for Rubi, but he didn’t want it to grow into something else.

“Feelings change over time. You will feel different as the year progresses, just as you had begun to feel different as the previous year passed,” and with that, the voice was silent again. Herbert only felt more confusion. What did that mean? Would he not like Rubi anymore by the end of the year? He didn’t want that, he just wanted to stop having romantic feelings so things would be normal.

He walked out of the forest, frustrated and confused. He noticed Rubi was home and walked in to see her. She was playing with the little finger creature, and noticed the slight glow around Herbert, “Oh! Did you… did you go into the forest?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said quietly, “I’ll be in the shed.”

He walked by, trying to avoid her worried stare. He needed to be alone to sort through his feelings, and she would only be a distraction.

—

Rubi was growing concerned. Herbert had been acting strange for a few days. Ever since he’d gone to the forest. Part of her was ecstatic that he’d actually gone out there on his own, but the rest of her was worried.

Standing, she went over to the phone, calling Dan. Maybe he would know what was going on with their friend.

He picked up immediately, “Hey.”

“You got any idea what’s wrong with West?” Rubi asked. Dan chuckled, “Oh there’s a list. What’s he doing now?”

“He’s been avoiding me for a couple of days. I’m worried, maybe I did something to upset him? I can’t think of what I might have done.”

“I doubt you did anything,” Dan assured her, “Sometimes he just… gets like that. He’ll be fine in a couple of days, I’m pretty sure.”

“Okay… I’m still kind of worried. I may try to check on him later.”

After saying goodbye, Rubi hung up the phone and walked to the backyard, looking next door to see if Neighbor was back there. No sign of them, she thought.

Rubi walked to the shed, holding her hand up to the door to knock on it. She hesitated for a moment, unsure of if she should bother him right now when he wanted to be alone. Realizing bothering him was the bad choice, she walked back inside her house.

Herbert, meanwhile, was staring at the drawings in the book Rubi had given him. For such simple drawings, they were very well done. The first one, on the inside of the cover, was a drawing of her smiling. He felt his heart speed up slightly at the thought of her smile. Frowning, he shut the book and pushed it away from him.

He needed to stop this. These feelings were ridiculous and had to go away. She didn’t feel that way toward him, and eventually his feelings would die. Then things could go back to normal and he would be able to interact with her again without the overwhelming urge to… to…

What *did* he want to do? He placed his head on his desk, his glasses thrown off to the side as he felt his ears begin to burn. He wanted her to hug him again, like some petulant child who needed to be comforted.

Herbert wanted to bash his head against the table in frustration. He was a grown man, dammit, he didn’t need things like affection.

Still… He looked at the book again, opening the cover and looking at another picture. This one of him, but in a cartoony fashion, glowering at the picture of Rubi. He smiled slightly, she was poking fun with that, inferring to how their relationship had started out.

He thought about the year. So much had changed from the time she saved them from the reanimated. He thought she was stubborn, airheaded, hard to get along with, and full of herself. He came to realize fairly quick that the only things correct were her being stubborn, and slightly airheaded. But even then, she wasn’t dumb by any means.

She’s remarkable, Herbert thought, wincing at his own thoughts. She’s kind. She’s trustworthy. She’s funny. She’s-

He stopped himself. He wasn’t going to let himself go down that rabbit hole or else he’d really fall. Sitting up and pushing his glasses onto his face, he grabbed a severed leg and a severed hand, stitching them together as he began working on his new side project.

He hoped that the very terrifying voice had meant his feelings would in fact die before the year ended, otherwise he wasn’t sure he would survive.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly Herbert-centric chapter! Next chapter is a Rubi-centric chapter!

Herbert didn’t really have any hobbies. He enjoyed reading occasionally, and he didn’t consider his work a “hobby.” Rubi had told him to try and find something fun to do whenever she went out so he didn’t get bored.

Ridiculous woman, he thought, I’ve never had to worry about a hobby before, I have my work.

Of course, then he realized that he was currently at a bit of a standstill and couldn’t push through with his progress. He sighed, frustrated.

Getting up from his desk and walking outside, Herbert took in his surroundings. Spring was here and flowers had begun to bloom. If he cared that much he might say it was beautiful. But his mind was too focused.

He considered talking to Neighbor for a moment, only to realize they weren’t in their tree. He walked into the house, running a hand through his hair as he tried to figure something out.

Hearing a noise nearby, he looked down and saw Martha. He couldn’t help it, he smiled at the Jill, “Don’t tell anyone this but I find you oddly comforting to be around.”

Martha seemed ecstatic to hear that and practically jumped his leg, climbing up quickly till she was resting on his shoulders.

“Tell no one about that,” he said sternly. She settled with a playful huff, making him chuckle slightly.

The two walked through the house, Herbert thinking of something to do to occupy his time, when he noticed Martha getting excited about something. On the dining room table was a party hat, one from the little party Rubi threw to celebrate the one year anniversary of Herbert moving in. He glanced down at Martha, then back to the table. Sighing, he walked over and put it on her head. The noises she was making could only be described as pure joy over wearing a simple hat.

It was in that moment that Herbert had an idea. He figured that if he could stitch body parts together, perhaps he could stitch something else.

—

It was a little lopsided, but Martha didn’t mind it in the slightest. He tilted the small hat so it sat sort of crooked on her head, “I guess my new hobby is going to be sewing because that... didn’t turn out horrible.”

Martha jumped excitedly at the idea. She wanted to tell Neighbor immediately.

Herbert wondered for a moment if he could someday progress to human sized outfits. His mind drifted to Rubi for a moment. Maybe he could ask her to help him later...

No! This was solely for him. He didn’t want Rubi to be the focal point of a new hobby.

Still... he thought about the idea of making her an outfit and felt his heart rate pick up slightly. He would save that idea for something special. Like her birthday. That was at the end of the year, and he had already missed it the first time.

He sat down, taking Martha’s measurements, “Would you like some ridiculous outfit to go with the hat?”

She seemed to nod, which he took as a yes and set to work.

After working on it for a few hours, he held up a small, opossum friendly jacket, “Do you suppose Rubi will mind my using the random fabric she happened to have?”

He helped Martha put it on and she jumped in excitement. She then ran off and out the back door. Herbert wondered for a brief moment when he started acting like this was a normal thing, talking to opossums.

Martha returned, Steve and Neighbor in tow, “Cute outfit West. Martha said you made it for her.”

He looked at the opossum, “Is she pregnant? I meant to ask you earlier. She seems... a little larger than normal and I kind of assumed while I was taking measurements.”

“She is, actually.”

“Fantastic,” Herbert replied, going back to his stitching.

“She said she’ll name one after you.”

“That’s nice of her.”

“She’s also wondering when you and Rubi are finally gonna get together so you can have joeys of your own.”

He was so caught off guard by that statement that he jabbed his finger with a needle, “Ow dammit! What?”

“Nothing, carry on with your sewing!” Neighbor left, Martha and Steve following behind them.

He frowned. The idea of someday having children never crossed his mind. Though, this time it was implied that everyone was wanting him to be with Rubi again. He thought everyone had finally moved past it when Meg saw Rubi talking to some guy.

His frown deepened. Why did he feel weird? He pushed the thoughts away, focusing on what he was doing. He would have to look some things up to better understand how sewing worked if he was ever going to make actual clothing for “fun.”

—

The weird feeling lasted all day. Perhaps, like Neighbor had mentioned once before, he was experiencing jealousy.

He decided it was because he didn’t want to lose time with his friend. He already felt similar irritation when Dan was busy with his fiancée.

Herbert put everything he had been working on away. He wanted to keep this hobby a secret from Rubi, he wasn’t sure why. Maybe she’d make fun of him.

Or maybe she would encourage it. He wasn’t sure which idea sounded worse. He walked back to the shed, only to notice the door had been ripped off the hinges. Oh no.

Oh no oh no oh no.

He ran inside, caught off guard by a very familiar reanimated corpse, the one that broke Rubi’s arm forever ago, standing in the shed. He gurgled angrily at Herbert and lunged for him. Luckily Herbert was able to grab a metal tray and bash the corpse in the head with it. It went down, and he noticed it looked slightly decayed.

Breathing heavily, Herbert ran back outside, calling for Neighbor.

“Yo,” they said, their head popping up over the fence.

“I need your assistance,” Herbert said.

They hopped the fence easily, walking quickly with him to the shed. The corpse had gotten up and was shakily walking toward the two. Herbert, surprised by his own actions, moved in front of Neighbor, “In my room I have a pistol. Should have brought it out here.”

“Oh damn,” was their reply. The monster lunged and Herbert pushed neighbor out of the shed. The monster knocked him to the ground and he began struggling to get it off him. Neighbor, surprisingly calm, ran and grabbed a bone saw off the desk.

Herbert managed to peel himself away from the corpse. Neighbor handed them the bone saw and he slit the corpse’s throat.

“Neighbor, I apologize for that. I assumed I had killed it.”

Neighbor just shrugged, “It’s all good. When did you start apologizing for things?”

“What? I-,” he stopped. When *had* he started to apologize?

“You’re a minor and I should not have allowed you to help me with this,” was his initial reply, but he added, “Also Rubi would have killed me if anything happened to you.”

Neighbor grinned, skirting around the corpse, “Wanna go find a place to bury this thing?”

“I might wait till Rubi comes home. Or I could call Dan.”

Neighbor was already lifting the corpse up, “Nah the only person who might be like, suspicious is the neighbor next door with cameras.”

Herbert froze, “Cameras..?”

“Yeah but it’s all good. The cemetery isn’t near their house so you don’t walk by it at all.”

He breathed a sigh of relief, helping Neighbor pick up the corpse. The two made their way quietly to the cemetery, dropping the corpse off in a shallow grave.

Neighbor said goodbye, lightly complaining about getting blood out of their sweatshirt. Herbert walked into the house to change into something less gory and shower.

—

As he was getting out of the shower, he heard Rubi come in.

“I’m home!” She called as he stepped out of the bathroom. He nodded politely at her.

“What did you do today?” She asked. He glanced at her, taking in her disheveled appearance and wondered the same thing for her.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rubi-centric chapter. I might have gone slightly overboard but you know what, Rubi gets real wordy when she's mad. Also this might be a little wish fulfillment cuz god i wish i could go off on the people who were gross to me growing up.

Rubi walked down the food aisle, trying to figure out what she wanted to get to cook for the evening. Warily, she glanced over at the man near her. He’d been following her for a little while, and she was pretty convinced he was going to attempt to talk to her at some point, and she really didn’t want him to.

She walked off to the next aisle, still glancing nervously as the man followed her. She was starting to get mad. This guy… he’d been following her in the store the last couple of times she’d come in. It was really beginning to bother her.

By the time she’d managed to get outside, she stopped and turned, catching the man off guard, “Can I fucking help you?” She asked, irritated.

“Sorry it’s just… you’re really pretty and I was trying to figure out how to talk to you,” the man replied nervously. Rubi frowned, “Listen, if you wanna be nice to a girl you think is cute, stalking her is really not the way to go,” she turned to walk off when he grabbed her arm.

She jerked away, “Listen, my roommate is the only one allowed to grab me like that!”

He was a lot taller than she’d realized, but that didn’t stop her. She smelled something on him that she couldn’t quite recognize, but it was gross, “Listen. Just listen. Let me take you out sometime. I’ve been seeing you around a lot and I can’t get you out of my mind.”

Rubi considered lying that she had a boyfriend for a moment. She could always say Herbert was her boyfriend, although she was highly convinced that he would only be amused. Instead she just glared at him and said, “Absolutely not. I’d rather eat garbage. I’m not interested in a relationship, and don’t plan on being in one for a while.”

She turned to leave, only for the man to shout, “You fucking whore!” At her. Stopping, she slowly turned to glare at him.

“I’m sorry… I’m? I’m a fucking whore? Me, the scary goth girl who has only been in two relationships and has never slept with anyone in my fucking life? Me, who’s fiancé died a few years ago and hasn’t even tried getting into a relationship because I couldn’t handle the idea of dating after said tragedy? Me, who’s dealt with horrific things the likes of which your fucking pea brain couldn’t even imagine? I’m a fucking whore? Because I won’t date you? Because I won’t fuck you? Because I won’t be your cute goth girlfriend who you can flaunt around while you continue berating women and calling THEM whores?”

She knew he was taller, but she had taken down super powerful zombies, she knew she could take this man down if he tried to hurt her. She stalked toward him, shoving him slightly and relishing in the fact that he stumbled, “You wanna keep insulting me you disgusting waste of human filth? You want to speak with your putrid breath fanning across my face, thinking you can insult me with your drivel??”

She was beginning to catch on to how much like Herbert she sounded, using words she wouldn’t normally use. She blamed it on spending far, far too much time around him but she didn’t care.

“I refuse to listen to any kind of nonsense from a man who doesn’t know how to bathe. I’ve got more strength in one arm than you probably have in your whole body. You’re such an insignificant piece of trash, acting like you deserve to be fucked by any girl who just happens to be attractive or nice to you. You fucking incel. You absolute degenerate. Your own mother is probably ashamed of you for your behavior. Do you call every girl who won’t sleep with you a whore? Do you not realize how bitter you sound? Perhaps if you actually attempted at being a decent human being, then maybe, just maybe, a girl would like you!”

Finally finished speaking, standing over the man as he now sat on the ground, staring up at her in confusion, Rubi turned and left. She went to her car and stuffed her groceries in the trunk. She looked at the mirror and saw the man stand, brushing his pants off as he glared at her.

“You’ll be sorry for talking to me like that you fucking bitch.”

She turned just as he lunged at her. She managed to grab his arm and pull it behind him as she turned him away, “You motherfucker. I could break your arm and you’d have no one to blame but yourself. My roommate has a vast amount of knowledge involving anatomy, and I learned where a lot of pressure points are. I also learned that if I had decided to punch your nose just right, I could have killed you.”

Part of her was horrified at how violent she was being. The rest of her was feeling some kind of thrill she had never felt before. She felt strong. Rubi would probably have to thank Herbert, his stupid failed experiments helped her get into pretty decent shape.

She let go of him, shoving him away. Turning and shutting the trunk door of her car, she walked and got in, driving away as she glanced at her rearview mirror. The man in question was sitting there, watching her leave.

\--

“You did all that? That doesn’t sound like you at all!” Meg was horrified. Dan simply sighed, “I think you’ve been spending too much time with West. He brings out a side of you that’s kind of terrifying.”

Rubi leaned back in the chair, wincing as it squeaked, “The guy had been following me every time I went to the store. I was real tired of it. The guy needed to be taught a lesson. Besides, it’s not like I killed him or something.”

Dan frowned, “I’m gonna call West. I feel like he needs to know that he’s beginning to negatively influence you.”

“Go ahead Dan,” Rubi smiled, now her normal, calm self, “I’m pretty sure he’d congratulate me. Listen. I’m probably gonna file a report on the guy. I’ll draw a picture of him and get him in trouble for harassing me.”

Dan placed a hand to his forehead, shutting his eyes as he nodded, “Yeah… yeah you’re right. I’ll just let you tell him when you go home later.”

Meg looked like she wanted to talk to Rubi about something, but didn’t feel comfortable saying anything in front of Dan. Dan, who caught her nervous look, quietly mentioned something about needing to leave the room and exited through the walkway.

“Hey, Rubi. I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” Meg said quietly. Rubi smiled, tilting her head in question, “Yeah?”

“I know you and Herbert were kinda adamant about not being in a relationship but um… Have you two been feeling a little different toward each other? You both spend a lot of time together and it’s kind of reminding me of how Dan and I were when we first started dating. Always together, hardly apart, you know?”

“I can absolutely, without a doubt, assure you that we are not dating. Herbert’s too focused on his reanimating stuff and I’ve been trying to kind of make it work with going out into the real world again.”

Meg didn’t seem too sure, frowning and saying, “You both flirt a lot with one another. I’m starting to wonder if you aren’t even aware of it.”

“Herbert West? Flirting? That’s ridiculous,” Rubi chuckled. She was starting to feel uneasy. Was… Was he flirting with her? She thought they just bantered a lot, nothing too serious and certainly nothing flirtatious.

“Rubi I’ve seen how he looks at you. It’s the same, weird expression he gives his reagent,” Dan had come back into the room. He looked apologetically at Meg, “Sorry, I uh… I overheard what was happening.”

“Are you saying I make him feel passionate feelings or something?” Rubi was starting to worry. Herbert had said not too long after meeting one another that romantic feelings were a weakness. Surely he wouldn’t succumb to them now?

“Listen, I’m just saying what I’ve seen. He stares at you a lot when you’re not looking. Usually when you’re sketching something. I swear, I can’t even begin to tell you about the book-,”

“Book?”

“Herbert keeps a book full of these… I think they’re random thoughts. We all have pages but you have… probably three pages? And it’s really, weirdly specific stuff. Like occasionally it’s something you wore, or how you wore your hair, or if you wore makeup.”

Well that was a little weird. But Rubi found herself slightly flattered, if not also slightly creeped out, “You think he might have feelings for me?”

Dan shrugged, “If anything, it’s a small crush and maybe it’ll go away. But Rubi, he’s been doing this since the anniversary party. I don’t know what changed but… something’s different about him.”

Rubi frowned. Surely her friend didn’t have a crush on her… This was Herbert West she was thinking about! The man who said he would “surely die” were he to ever grow romantic feelings for someone. Hell it took him a year to admit he considered Rubi a friend!

“I’ll… talk to him about it later, but let’s talk about other stuff okay? I’m a little weirded out by this stuff,” Rubi mumbled. Dan and Meg nodded, Dan coming to sit down with the women.

“You guys are getting married in a month!” Rubi said, gladly changing the subject, “You mentioned wanting me to draw you guys something. Do you still want that, or did you change your mind?”

“Oh! I’d love for you to draw us,” Meg said excitedly, “Your art is really good. Whenever I come over to your house, I always get so distracted by the art on your walls.”

“Even the creepy stuff,” Dan agreed, “It’s all really good.”

Rubi grinned, “I’m glad y’all like it. Listen, tomorrow I can come over and we can discuss what you want for the picture, and you guys don’t have to pay me or anything, I wanna do this for you because you guys are some of the only friends I have here.”

“Oh Rubi you don’t have to do that. We can pay you!” Meg intervened. Rubi insisted that they didn’t need to. They finally agreed that Meg and Dan would only pay half price.

When Rubi left, she felt a little bit of guilt building in her from how angrily she’d acted toward that man from earlier. He may not have actually been the asshole she was calling him. Then she remembered he called her a whore and she got mad all over again.

She caught a glimpse of herself in the car window, noting how disheveled she looked. Geez, she thought, I look like I got hit by a truck.

She drove home in silence, trying to block the earlier part of the day from her mind. She watched as the sun was setting, admiring the beauty of it. Her thoughts travelled to Herbert for what felt like the fifth time today, and she wondered why he was so obsessed with bringing the dead back to life.

He had told her his parents died when he was young, and she wondered if that might have been part of it. A tragedy like that would make anyone have some kind of trauma, and they would latch onto something in any way they knew how. His way had, unfortunately, been trying to find a way to reverse death. She would probably ask him about it at some point.

She hummed a song she didn’t remember the name of, thinking about how different everything was compared to a year prior. She had been kind of a loner, too shy to try and make friends. The roommate idea had been her mother’s; a way for her to finally meet some people and possibly befriend someone. She’d been a wreck after her fiancé’s death, not wanting to deal with anyone or anything until her grieving stopped.

She worried about forgetting him. He had been the first man she’d ever really loved. She smiled slightly, he probably would have loved her with black hair and dark makeup. Herbert certainly seemed to be fine with it.

She wondered if Meg was right. She was beginning to realize Meg was right about Herbert spending a lot more time with Rubi.

She laughed to herself. Herbert West was a fairly different person than the cold, uncaring man she met all that time ago. He was still kind of cold and uncaring, but there was some life to him that hadn’t been there before.

She couldn’t understand why he seemed alright with being around her so much now. Why he actually acknowledged her as a friend. She wanted to find out somehow, though.

As Rubi pulled into her driveway, she noticed Neighbor sitting on their lawn, blood on their sweatshirt. She got out, “You ok Neighbor?”

“Oh yeah I’m fine. Man, you missed it though. Herbert had to deal with that corpse that broke your arm a while back! It’s all good though, we got rid of it.”

“Oh my god, is he ok?” She was instantly worried. That thing had done a number on both of them the last time it was around.

“Oh yeah he’s fine. Might have hit his head, but he seemed ok. You should probably ask him what he did today, cuz he did some other stuff but he told me not to tell you,” with that, they stood up and walked inside, telling Rubi to have a good evening.

Rubi walked into the house, calling out, “I’m home!” Herbert, who seemed to have just cleaned himself up, stepped into view. He nodded to her, and she wondered if he was unsure of speaking for a reason.

“What did you do today?” She asked, already knowing some of the answer.


	15. Chapter 15

Herbert felt like the year was dragging. July was already here and he wondered why it wasn’t already the end. He looked out into the blazing heat, wishing his shed had an air conditioner as he walked back into the main house.

Rubi was lying her head in the cool counter, her aesthetic, outer clothing discarded, revealing a black tank top underneath. She had at least made the right choice to wear shorts.

Herbert considered it for a moment, changing into something other than pants, but changed his mind immediately. He had a professional appearance and he liked to keep it that way.

Even if it meant feeling miserable.

“Hey you should drink some water if you’re gonna dress like that,” Rubi said as she looked up from the counter, “Last thing you want is to get dehydrated.”

“That’s why I was coming in. That and the shed was so unbearable I couldn’t take it anymore.”

“You wanna go somewhere? Anywhere? Somewhere cold?” Rubi sounded slightly desperate.

“I suppose we can take a break from the house,” Herbert replied, turning when he heard noise.

Neighbor opened the door, still wearing a sweater, “Hey guys you wanna come over and hang with my parents? They’ve been asking to meet West and they have a really cold house.”

“How convenient,” Herbert said, raising an eyebrow at Rubi, who was already standing and placing her over-shirt back on, “Yes holy shit I’m melting.”

The three walked around to the front of Neighbor’s home, the door opening to reveal a woman in what Herbert could only describe as 50s attire; a knee length dress with an apron and heels. He noticed her eyes were covered by thick bangs, similar to Neighbor, but her hair was in a coiffure style.

She smiled and an eerie feeling settled over him, “Hello there. You must be Herbert. My Child has told me so much about you.”

She let them in, Herbert taking in the living room. It was definitely cold in the house, it felt almost like a freezer in a morgue. The living room looked like something out of a sitcom, everything was placed a little too perfectly. Herbert couldn’t tell if Rubi noticed or cared, as she seemed relieved to finally be cooling down.

The group walked through the house, finally meeting Neighbor’s father, a tall man reading a newspaper that Herbert could plainly see said “195x” on the date. The man looked up and grinned, an old pipe between his teeth and glasses so thick that once again Herbert couldn’t see eyes.

He was beginning to wonder if coming over was a bad idea.

The man stood and shook his hand, “Well howdy there sport! It sure is swell to finally meet ya!”

Herbert wanted to leave immediately. He felt Rubi pat his arm, hearing her snickering quietly at his reaction.

So she knew the family was weird the whole time, Herbert thought.

—

Herbert was freezing now. He fought the urge to shiver, noticing Rubi was shaking badly.

“Are you cold?” He asked softly, not wanting to interrupt the Neighbors as they discussed what they would be doing for dinner.

Teeth chattering slightly, she nodded. Herbert wasn’t sure what to do, but mumbled, “What kind of air conditioning system do they have that makes it feel like a morgue,” he muttered. Rubi shrugged, scooting a little closer to him, “I’m sharing your body heat don’t make this weird.”

“Personal space is a thing, Rubi.”

“Stop I said don’t make this weird,” she was practically leaning on him at this point. Herbert felt the urge to wrap his arm around her shoulders, but he didn’t want to imply anything, so he stayed still.

“You guys,” Neighbor walked over, “Ok, see, doing stuff like that is why my parents don’t believe me when I say you two aren’t dating.”

Rubi frowned, “Not my fault your parents make it a freezer in here.”

Herbert was silent, the feeling of eyes on him was making him uneasy again, and he glimpsed Neighbor’s parents, smiling at them. The smiles felt a little too wide, too inviting. He shuddered and looked at Neighbor.

“You guys wanna stay over for dinner?” Neighbor asked.

—

The dinner went surprisingly smoothly, although Herbert watched the family almost the whole time and wasn’t sure how he completely missed seeing them eat anything. He blinked and the food was gone.

Rubi and Herbert stayed a little while after that, talking about little things. Rubi mentioned a portrait she was working on for Meg and Dan, while Herbert occasionally said something about his “work”, without mentioning what it was. Herbert glanced at several clocks throughout the room, noticing them all stuck at the time 3:33AM, and had most likely been for several hours at this point.

“Witching hour,” Rubi said softly, low enough only Herbert could hear. A strange chill went down his spine as he suddenly stood and said he needed to get back to work.

“Oh shoot,” Neighbor’s mom said, “Do you really have to go?”

“Aw honey it’s alright. They can come visit us anytime!” Neighbor’s father responded, “See you around sport!”

Herbert grabbed Rubi’s hand and walked quickly out of the home, the air hot despite the sun having gone down hours ago.

They didn’t say anything until they were in their home, Herbert hadn’t let go of Rubi’s hand.

“That was, without a doubt, the strangest experience of my life,” Herbert finally said. He still felt cold, even with the hot air around him.

“I didn’t get a chance to warn you, sorry.”

Herbert shrugged it off, “It’s alright it was just... something felt off the entire time.”

“That’s Neighbor’s family for you.”

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, unsure of what to say now. Rubi finally cleared her throat, pointedly looking at their still intertwined hands. Herbert, realizing this, quickly let go and stepped away, mumbling something about not noticing.

“I’m going to the shed. I’d rather melt than go back in that house,” Herbert said, quickly leaving.

Rubi glanced at her clock on the wall, noticing the time. 3:33AM. She shuddered, heading up to her room for the night. She couldn’t stop thinking about Herbert holding her hand.


	16. Chapter 16

“What’s your favorite color?” Rubi asked. Herbert glanced up from his writing, “My what?”

“Your favorite color, genius,” Rubi rolled her eyes. She wanted to distract him, he’d been really busy lately and she was growing concerned.

Your eye color, is what Herbert wanted to say, but felt it was too forward. Instead muttering, “I’ve never thought about it. I’m usually too busy to think about things like that.”

“Oh come on,” she groaned, leaning on his desk. He could smell her shampoo again, “At least think about it some. Then tell me.”

“What’s yours? Your favorite color, I mean,” Herbert said, forcing himself to stay focused.

She thought for a moment, “You know sapphires? That color blue specifically.”

“Ah,” for some reason he kept talking, “Do you have a favorite gemstone? Is it sapphire?”

“Haha, no,” she laughed, “I don’t have a favorite.”

He nodded, writing something down. Rubi moved a little closer, “What are you writing?”

“I’m making some plans for something. Something that might take up a lot of my time but it should be worth it in the end.”

Rubi glanced at the notes, catching words like “reanimate” and “new” and “creation.” She didn’t know what it all said because a lot of it was in Herbert’s chicken scratch handwriting, the kind only he could read.

“Did I tell you my mom was coming to Meg and Dan’s wedding next week?”

His pencil was gently placed on the table as he turned to look at her, trying not to think of how close she was to his face, how he could see the faint remnants of her makeup she fell asleep in last night...

How desperately he wanted to kiss her. But he refrained, instead keeping a blank look and a questioning gaze. Rubi laughed, “I swear I thought I told you. She’s coming up for the wedding. Don’t worry though, she’s staying at my grandpa’s.”

Thank goodness, Herbert thought, fighting the urge to look at her lips as she talked. She finally leaned away and stretched slightly, “She’s been dying to meet you, honestly. ‘The elusive doctor friend,’ as she calls you.”

“Is that because I refuse to talk on the phone?”

“Yeah actually. Everyone else has, but you always get real quiet.”

“Perhaps I don’t have anything to say.”

“Yeah well I think you’re nervous. Or worried she’ll think we’re dating, like everyone else does.”

He sighed, “I will say the thought crossed my mind a few times.”

“You ain’t got nothing to worry about,” he raised an eyebrow at her accent suddenly sliding in, and he wondered if she was more nervous than he was.

She didn’t seem to notice, “My mom’s real nice. You just need to be polite and not insult anyone’s intelligence like you love to do, and you should be fine.”

“Last time I insulted someone’s intelligence, I was banished to the shed for over a month.”

Rubi chuckled, “There was more than just intelligence insulting going on there.”

—

Rubi’s mom was surprisingly lovely. She was far, far more southern than her daughter, but Herbert could hear the two chattering about something back home and he could hear how strong Rubi’s accent actually was.

He wasn’t the type to use words like this, but he found it... cute.

Or he supposed endearing was a more accurate term. Regardless, he found it charming and it was starting to drive him a little crazy.

At one point Rubi left the room for something and her mother had, politely, drilled Herbert about his intentions. He had made it clear that there was no romantic connection, at least on Rubi’s end, and that it would stay that way. She seemed satisfied with the answer, but had a knowing look on her face, as if she knew how desperately he was pining for her daughter.

Rubi, of course, was completely oblivious. She wanted to help with the wedding stuff for Meg, who was thrilled to have the help.

“My only regret is that my dad isn’t gonna be here, you know?” Meg said, looking at the dress hanging in her closet forlornly, “I can’t believe it’s almost been two years.”

“Oh yeah the anniversary is coming up...,” Rubi said softly. She wondered if they should throw another party for them, or if they should just ignore it.

“Do you have a dad, Rubi? I never hear you talk about him,” Meg said. Rubi jumped slightly, “Well I mean... I do, but I haven’t seen him in... 15 years roughly.”

“Ouch, sorry Rubi.”

“Eh, don’t be. I’m over it at this point.”

Meg smiles softly at her friend, “Have you thought about what I mentioned? Your uh, conflicted feelings?”

“Oh Jesus let’s not bring that up,” Rubi said nervously, “I got in his face yesterday to see if he’d react and got nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Well he kind of turned pink but other than that, nothing.”

“Either he’s a really good actor or we were wrong and he doesn’t like you that way. I still think it’s the former.”

“How can you be sure Herbert likes me?”

Meg raised an eyebrow, “Because he looks at you similar to the way Dan looks at me. Herbert stared at you a lot when you guys were over here yesterday. It wasn’t even subtle he was just... it was like he was looking at one of his creepy experiments. He was even smiling a little. Dan had been right when he said something similar a while ago.”

Rubi felt warm, “It’s nice to think he might like me, I guess.”

“Do you like him?”

“I don’t know really. I definitely like him more than I did when we first became friends but...,” Rubi chewed on the inside of her cheek in thought.

“You’re still not over...?”

“No it’s not that. I mean, I don’t think I can ever get over that completely. But this is... different, from before. With my fiancé it was... really quick? I mean... we dated for a few months and instantly knew that we wanted to be together. But with Herbert, it’s... Well it’s been almost two years and I don’t feel that quick feeling. I feel... I dunno, comfortable? Around him. I guess...?”

Meg smiled, “Rubi I think you might definitely like Herbert more than you realize. Didn’t you say something about a weird voice telling you to wait two years to be happy?”

Rubi nodded, the memory still clear in her head. One year and one month. The year was already half over. It was still mid-July, but Rubi felt like time was beginning to run out.

“I see that look on your face. You’ve still got plenty of time, Rubi,” Meg told her. Rubi smiled a little, “Yeah you’re... probably right.”


	17. Chapter 17

Herbert couldn’t focus today. He wasn’t entirely sure how he had been roped into being someone’s best man at a wedding, but here he was, standing near Dan as he waited for Meg to walk down the aisle.

Rubi wasn’t helping. She got to be a bridesmaid, and she looked nice. Well, maybe not nice… nice wasn’t strong enough. Radiant? Lovely? Beautiful?

He felt Dan elbow him, “You’re staring at her again,” he whispered. Herbert glared for a moment before sighing. He glanced at Rubi one last time before the wedding began. She hadn’t seemed to have noticed his very obvious staring.

He’d have to remember to tell her that she looks nice in pink.

\--

“How’s it feel to be Mrs. Cain, Meg?” Rubi grinned. Meg laughed and said something about it feeling surreal, Herbert wasn’t paying attention. He muttered something to Dan about needing to talk to him alone.

“What’s up, West?”

“How do you know when you’ve fallen in love with someone?”

The question caught Dan off guard. Herbert had never even talked about stuff like this in the past.

“What... brought this up?” Dan asked quietly. He had suspicions that Rubi did something again. Herbert felt embarrassed about what he was going to say, but inhaled and explained.

“At your wedding earlier I was thinking. About Rubi. She looked very nice today and while everyone was looking at your wife to be I was staring at Rubi. And I started thinking about what it would be like to marry her? I’ve never thought about marriage before. I’m not even dating her. Was it merely thoughts coinciding with you getting married? How do I make the thoughts stop? Daniel it’s beginning to interfere with my work, I’m starting to lose my mind. She’s almost all I think about when I’m not working on my reagent.”

Dan was grinning from ear to ear. He’d have to thank Meg for making Rubi wear that pretty dress to their wedding, “Yeah buddy you’re definitely on the road to being in love. But you might want to go slower, you know? Try not to think about marriage and stuff just yet. You need to ask her out first.”

“Daniel I don’t know how.”

Dan realized that might be a problem.

“She also might reject me. There’s a 25% chance she’ll say yes, and a 75% chance she’ll laugh in my face and tell me to fuck off.”

Dan’s eyes widened, “Her foul language rubbing off on you?”

“No I was merely loosely quoting things she’s said in the past.”

Sure, Dan thought. He patted Herbert on the back, “I’m pretty sure she likes you and is in denial over it, so best case scenario is you doing something spontaneous and her admitting her feelings. Worst case, she calls you something rude and tells you to leave. But there are a lot of other possible answers. You know?”

Herbert sighed in frustration, “I have no one to talk to about this. I tried talking to our strange neighbor but they only give me cryptic remarks. You’re just telling me to go into it spontaneously... perhaps Meg might actually give me advice?”

“Hey that’s a good idea!” Dan said happily. He and Herbert walked back to the main room. Meg was chatting with Rubi and a couple other girls they knew, when Dan called her over.

“Hey babe listen,” Dan started, “Herbert needs relationship advice.”

“Dan it’s our wedding day,” Meg started, but stopped when she saw him give her a pleading look.

“Alright. Explain, West.”

Herbert quietly explained his predicament again to Meg, who listened solemnly.

“You need to either leave for a while to see if the feelings fade, or you need to bite the bullet and try asking her out. Listen, at the end of the year they’re having some charity event at Miskatonic. Ask her to be your plus one. It’s to remember the people who died during that horrible outbreak two years back. Might be good for you to have her with you.”

Dan nodded, “I almost forgot about that.”

Herbert frowned. He had gotten a notice about that, but hadn’t thought about going. Sighing, he nodded, “Very well.”

As Meg turned to leave, Herbert called out to her. She turned and looked at him in question.

“Congratulations on getting married. I know... we don’t get along as well as others, but I don’t think anyone better suits Dan. And I don’t mean that in a demeaning way this time.”

Meg nodded, thanking him politely. When she went to sit by Rubi again, she said, “Herbert was surprisingly nice to me just now.”

Rubi grinned, “Damn, finally. I think I’ve been getting under his skin lately. I kinda noticed how the two of you always feel kinda hostile toward each other, so I might have threatened him to start being more nice and genuine to you.”

Meg smiled. That made more sense than him being kind for no reason, “He asked me for advice on something.”

“Oh?”

Meg took a sip her champagne, nodding silently. Rubi frowned, knowing she wouldn’t get a straight answer, “Don’t tease me like that!”

“When the end of the year comes, there’s a charity event being held at Miskatonic. You should go with Herbert,” Meg said smoothly. Rubi blinked at this random tidbit of information, before shrugging, “Alright. I don’t think I’ll be doing anything too major for a few months so why not?”

—

Rubi watched Dan and Meg leave for their honeymoon, knowing they’d be gone for at least a month. She smiled, knowing a break probably would be necessary at this rate.

Herbert stood beside her, a passive expression on his face. She thought he looked almost sad for a moment.

“I doubt they’ll rat you out to police,” Rubi joked. He shook his head, “That’s not it... what if...,” he frowned, deciding to keep that thought to himself.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the being living in the lake finally had their name dropped :)

“He stared at me the whole time,” Rubi said quietly. Meg sighed, “We both told you he had been doing that a lot lately.”

“It was weird, but I didn’t want him to leave because I was really kind of... enjoying the attention I think.”

“Mm-hm.”

“Meg you have that look on your face again.”

“Look, I’m just saying that... What if you like him too?”

Rubi huffed, “Hardly. I mean, he’s my friend. I feel like doing something more with that would be weird??”

“Dan and I started out as friends,” Meg pointed out, “Sometimes the more you get to know someone, the more you start to like them.”

Rubi frowned, “I suppose.”

Meg snorted, “That’s something Herbert says all the time. You guys keep rubbing off on each other. Dan told me he said fuck at our wedding reception.”

Rubi snorted. The idea of Herbert saying something like that was really funny to her. She fell back on the couch, a tired sigh escaping her, “I don’t think I like him like that.”

“Just humor me for a second. Explain why you think that.”

“He’s cold. He’s still kind of rude. He’s always working in his stupid shed. He doesn’t know how to accept compliments! He has a big ego so I can’t say he looks nice or that when he smiles his whole face actually lights up or his eyes are really pretty and change color in certain light and I think about them sometimes when I'm alone.”

Meg blinked. That was a lot to take in, “Rubi did you hear what you said?”

Rubi shook her head, “Unimportant. Meg I don’t think of him romantically. I don’t think that’s what’s happening here.”

Meg raised an eyebrow, “What exactly is happening then?”

“Probably just spending too much time around him again. I had done pretty good by going out and finding things to do away from the house, but I keep coming back and it’s really frustrating.”

—

After leaving Meg and Dan’s home, Rubi decided to go visit Neighbor. She knocked on the door, grateful when the teen answered.

“Hey can we talk?” She asked. They nodded and let her in. She was grateful the house was cold, but not as freezing at it had been when the Parents first met Herbert.

“Is this about West?” Neighbor asked.

“Kind of. Um... did he ever tell you anything weird about me? Like if he had feelings for me?”

“I can’t share that with you. You know that.”

“I figured... Do you think I like him?”

“There’s no think to it. My parents immediately started thinking on how you guys were gonna become engaged. They thought you were a couple the entire time despite me telling them you weren’t.”

“But...,” Rubi frowned, remembering that Herbert had held her hand several times that day, “It just... I don’t think it would work, you know? I mean he’s so... and I’m...?”

“Opposites attract, Rubi.”

“But he’s kind of an asshole.”

“He’s toned down a lot around you.”

“But-,”

“Rubi. Why are you so adamant about denying you like him?”

“I don’t want to move on!” Rubi yelled. She covered her mouth, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to yell. I just... I don’t want to forget...”

“Just because you move on doesn’t mean you forget. I doubt he would have wanted you to force yourself not to fall in love with someone else.”

She sighed, “You’re right you know... he would have hated that. But I just... Herbert’s so different from any man I’ve ever liked. I can’t figure out why I even like him.”

“He’s gotten nicer to you, he seems to value your art, he actually tries for you which he doesn’t seem to do for just anyone.”

“Hm...”

Neighbor frowned, “Listen, Rubi. You still have a few months left before you find 'true happiness' according to Lago-Le’Cho,” Rubi winced at hearing the name of the voice she had heard almost a year ago, “Give yourself some time and try not to think about it. It’ll come to you.”

She nodded slightly, “Alright.”

Returning home, she leaned on the door and sighed.

This was stupid. She didn’t have feelings for Herbert. She couldn’t. It just didn’t make sense.

She walked over to the window, seeing movement. The house next to hers always seemed vacant, but there was someone living there. She could see movement beyond the curtains covering the windows of the home.

The curtain parted slightly, and Rubi saw a glimpse of an older woman, a small scowl on her face when she made eye contact.

Uneasy, Rubi backed away from the window. She wasn’t sure what it was, but something about the woman next door made her feel... uncomfortable.

She walked through her house, looking through the window of the kitchen. The shed door had to be fixed a while ago, so the door was different. It was shut and locked, currently. Herbert had been focusing on some new side project to his experimenting.

She was concerned, honestly. He had been holing himself up in the shed for days.

Part of her wanted to go to him, see if he was doing ok. But the rest of her was telling her to take a damn break and stop focusing on her friend so much. Sighing, she walked to the art room, setting her painting up to work on some more.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so uh, the dream portion of this is kinda overly violent but for some reason my brain thought it was a good idea to really hammer in how threatening and terrible dream!rubi is while also showing that the stuff Herbert's doing plus the stress of his own emotions is starting to get to him. So yeah, heavy gore warning! Also Herbert is having one hell of a crisis right now but for how much longer can I cause him agony? I dunno I'll see how I feel before I finally let the tension break.

Herbert knew avoiding Rubi was childish. But he couldn’t handle being around her right now. She was either completely oblivious or in complete denial and he couldn’t handle it. So he stayed in the shed, working on his new project.

Creating that little creature made of fingers had sparked something in him. He could create life. He would create life. A new life. He had begun gathering parts needed to create the perfect body. This would be his greatest achievement. His greatest creation.

A part of him was pretty sure he was doing this to fill a void in his chest he couldn’t figure out, and his dreams, when he had any, reflected that.

He was suddenly aware that he was asleep and not in fact working on his project. The room took on an eerie green tone, a signal that she was coming.

She had returned to the dreams again. The strange, horrifying version of Rubi that plagued his thoughts over a year prior. Her dark hair highlighted with a sickly neon green, liquid that glowed leaking from the orifices of her face as she mockingly laughed at him.

“Your pathetic attempts at ignoring your feelings are simply too much,” she told him, as he lay strapped to a table, terrified to see he had been cut open but was still alive. She loomed threateningly over him, the reagent in her eyes leaking onto his exposed organs. A scalpel in her hand, she plunged it into his stomach, causing his eyes to widen even though he felt no pain.

“Do you think you can really play God in an attempt to fight your feelings? Your hubris is coming back once again, my dear West,” her voice had more of Rubi’s than his this time. Her appearance was slightly altered, her outfit being more akin to what Rubi would actually wear, as opposed to the ethereal gown she had worn before.

He felt that only made her more terrifying. The more she looked like Rubi, the worse the dream.

Her hand ran along his intestines, “You disgust me. Or rather, you disgust yourself. Your pitiful trials and tribulations have made you start trying to find something that you have right in front of you,” she grabbed and pulled, ripping the intestines out. He didn’t feel the pain, but he was horrified when she threw the organs callously onto the floor. His blood covered her arms and face, and he forced himself to look away.

“Why won’t you leave me be?” He choked out, “I became her friend what more could you want from me?”

The horrible dream version of Rubi leaned close to his face, mere inches away, “I want you to admit your true feelings. The dreams will stop if you learn to talk.”

He felt like he was going to be sick. At the same time, seeing the dream Rubi shift to look like the Rubi from outside his dreams, smiling fondly at him, he felt his heart jump. Even in what he considered his worst possible nightmare, her face caused him to think positively.

Her face shifted back to the dream version, a wicked grin on her face as she grabbed his heart, “Just seeing her face causes your little organ to stutter. What else does it do..? What other feelings do you have inside you, Herbert?”

“You’re my subconscious, you should know,” he snarled, only to choke again when she tugged on his heart, “Ah, ah, ah… Let’s not get defiant now, not when I literally have you in the palm of my hand,” she grinned, her teeth sharp.

“The nightmares would stop if you actually did what Rubi said and took more breaks, you know. It’s more than just talking about your true feelings. Being around all the carnage, the death… it’s not good for a mind like yours,” her voice took a strange, soothing tone as she leaned close again, “Perhaps you could watch her paint again. Or you could do something else with her…”

“What are you implying…?”

“I think you know.”

“I can’t. I-,” he choked on his own blood as she ripped his heart from his chest, it still beating in her hand, “You want to give her this. You want to give her all of you, but your heart is the biggest thing. Show your affection to her.”

“Pl…Please just let me wake up…”

\--

He woke up by falling out of his chair. He got to his knees, staring at the ground as he shook violently. Slowly, he stood. He gripped the side of the table to help steady himself and shakily wobbled to the door. He still felt like he was going to vomit.

That had been the worst experience he had ever encountered from his dreams.

He slowly made his way into the house, grateful to see Rubi was still not home. She was probably still with Meg. The last thing he needed was to have her see him like this. He went to the fridge and opened the door, his eyes glancing around until his eyes rested on a head of lettuce.

“God damn it all,” he muttered, grabbing the vegetable and leaving the house. He didn’t care that it was almost midnight, he didn’t care if he didn’t believe in whatever the hell was in that stupid lake. He needed answers from someone. Anyone.

He made his way into the forest, nodding to the large deer and following it to the lake. Standing next to the lake, he dropped the vegetable in and waited.

“Ask your question…,” the voice said.

“If I tell Rubi how I feel about her, will she reject me?” He needed to know. He desperately needed to know. He couldn’t handle one more night of those god-awful nightmares.

“The nightmares will cease when you speak the truth,” the voice said, “Her answer will satisfy you in the end. There are many possibilities to come to in terms of rejection.”

“For God’s sake give me a straight answer! Please…,” he fell to the ground, exhausted, “I’m so tired. I’m tired of these overwhelming feelings. I’m tired of the fact that some random woman I met almost two years ago is changing me from the scientist I was once into some babbling fool who doesn’t understand anything. All I want to know is if she feels the same agonizing feelings I feel for her. I’m so ridiculously exhausted from this. I’ve had similar nightmares for months now. Please for once can someone just give me a legitimate answer that I don’t have to interpret…”

The voice had gone silent. The forest was eerily quiet. Herbert wanted to scream. He felt like such a fool, coming out here in the hopes of getting some kind of answer from a mythical creature that surely didn’t exist.

He stood and left. He wasn’t going to find his answer here. As he came out of the forest, he noticed the lights on. Rubi was home. He frowned, not wanting her to see him in the state he was in.

Herbert opened the door, seeing Rubi in the living room, lying on the couch with her eyes shut. She opened them as he shut the door, letting out a soft, “Hey…”

“You’re home awfully late.”

“Yeah, I was with Meg. She wanted me to go shopping with her and we ended up going back to her house to watch some movies since Dan was working late at the morgue. What were you doing outside?” Her voice took on a tone of concern, causing Herbert to cringe slightly.

“I was… taking a walk.”

She could see him glowing slightly, knowing he’d been in the forest, but said nothing. He started walking by when she stood and gently grabbed his arm, “Hey… stay here a minute, I wanna talk. I haven’t seen you all day.”

“Rubi, I’m very busy-,”

“You’ve been busy for the last week,” she sounded sad, “Did I do something to piss you off again?”

“No,” he gently grabbed her hand and made her let go of his arm, “I’ve just been working on something. If you’ll excuse me. Goodnight, Rubi,” he left the house, heading to the shed to continue working. He didn’t see the hurt look on Rubi’s face as he left the building.

He didn’t have time to think about emotion. He had life to create.


	20. Chapter 20

Rubi frowned as she picked up a dismembered leg. Herbert’s new hobby, stitching body parts together and injecting them with reagent, was definitely one of the more terrifying things she’s seen.

“I hate how numb I’ve gotten to seeing dead bodies,” she muttered. Neighbor looked at the small fridge, knowing there were several beakers of reagent in there, “Yeah but hey, you could always go into a mortuary career since you don’t get squeamish anymore.”

Rubi turned to her friend, surprised, “I… You know I never really thought about that. Maybe I should talk to Herbert about that.”

“Talk to me about what,” his voice made her jump. She turned and saw him looking at the two, an eyebrow raised in question. She shrugged, “What if I worked in a morgue?”

“I don’t see why couldn’t. You only need a high school diploma to work as a mortuary assistant. They tend to help with autopsies, and I think you could possibly do that. Plus it would be good learning experience for you, and you could start helping me with my work again.”

Rubi smiled slightly, “Ok but where the hell am I gonna find a morgue to work in?”

“Miskatonic, obviously.”

“… Do you think that’s a good idea? I mean… with what happened..?”

“Rubi, I feel like we can get away with enough if you work there.”

Neighbor, who had managed to sneak a vial of reagent, grinned at the pair, “You guys have fun I’m gonna go check on the opossums. I’ll tell Martha and Gerald and Steve you guys said hi.”

\--

“Why would you like to work here, Ms. Blue?” Dr. Wilbur Graves asked. Rubi, who had made an effort to not look weird, simply smiled and said, “I’m always wanting to learn new things. Anatomy in general is something I find myself fascinated with, and I could learn a lot working here. I think.”

Dr. Graves nodded thoughtfully, “Would you be willing to apply here at Miskatonic for a degree?”

Rubi knew this question was coming, and while she hated the fact that she would have to go back to school, she nodded, “Absolutely. It’s a two-year degree, right? I already applied to work here and I should be able to start next week when school starts back up.”

“Excellent! Alright, you can work part-time for now, and once you have that degree, we’ll discuss a full-time position,” he shook her hand, “I hope, Ms. Blue, that you prove to be serious about this! We could always use the help, especially after what happened two years ago.”

Rubi grinned, “Glad to prove I’m serious.”

She left the room, Herbert was casually waiting outside. Noticing her grin, he said, “I assume it went well?”

“I’m glad you were able to convince Dan and Meg to pull some strings so I could start coming here. I think I got the job, because he told me I could work part-time.”

“Fantastic,” Herbert began walking, Rubi following behind. She walked around the building with him as he explained where she would get to go to her classes. Rubi was a little nervous about the idea of learning.

He turned and smiled smugly, “Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to help you with your studies.”

“Oh I’m sure you’d love that.”

“Well who wouldn’t want me as a study partner. I have a vast amount of knowledge as it is.”

“I dunno, you seem a little too intense in your study of death,” Rubi’s voice took on a teasing tone. Herbert smirked, “Well good thing you have your own fondness for death.”

“I suppose that’s true,” she grinned, “Although it would be more accurate to say I’m not squeamish thanks to the stuff I’ve helped you with.”

The two continued their playful banter as they walked, occasionally stopping as Herbert pointed out classrooms. They finally walked outside, Rubi noticing the sky had darkened with gray clouds.

“Looks like rain,” Rubi said calmly. Herbert, who was always prepared, pulled a simple, black umbrella out just as the rain began. Rubi huddled under it with him, trying to stay dry. She was aware of how close they were to each other, and her heartrate was picking up again.

The last time she had thought anything close to what she was thinking, she was having an adrenaline rush and wasn’t thinking correctly. But right now, with his focused stare on the way ahead to the car, he seemed far more attractive than she remembered.

He was trying to ignore her staring. He really was. It was taking all his concentration to walk forward, an arm casually around her as they stayed close under the umbrella. Her green eyes were boring into his face and he was beginning to feel embarrassed.

His darker eyes flickered to her, catching her eyes for a moment. In embarrassment, she quickly turned her head forward, face turning pink. He said nothing, a small, barely noticeable smile on his face.

He opened the car door for her, letting her quickly get into the car, running over to the driver’s side and climbing in, shaking the umbrella and closing it. The two drove in silence back to the house. At one point, Rubi’s hand had tentatively reached over, as if she were going to grab his hand. She retracted her hand away and placed it back in her lap, looking out the window at the rain.

\--

Rubi pulled her sketchbook out. She would occasionally glance up at Herbert, focused on his science, then she’d look back down and sketch a little. She was drawing him, but heaven help her if he actually found out.

She wanted to make a thank you present for helping her get into Miskatonic. She figured the best way to do so was a portrait of himself the way she saw him. Focused, collected… Handsome..?

Rubi shook her head in frustration. She was not gonna start thinking of him as attractive right now. She went back to sketching, although she was beginning to think this was a silly idea. As much as he seemed to appreciate her art, she felt like it’d be silly to give him a picture of…. Himself.

But at the same time, his ego was big enough that he’d probably love it. She focused on her sketching, glancing up again to look at him.

He was staring at her, his face amused. Feeling her face heat up, she looked down at her sketchbook and flipped the page, drawing a doodle of herself screaming.

“What are you drawing?” He asked. Screaming internally, she looked up and smiled, “Me screaming because I’m bored.”

“Mm-hm. You’ve been glancing up at me then back down at your sketchpad for the last fifteen minutes. Surely you weren’t just drawing yourself screaming.”

“You’d love the idea of me sketching you, wouldn’t you.”

“Now where did I say you were sketching me?”

Oops. Busted. Rubi slowly closed her sketchbook and inhaled, shutting her eyes. She opened the sketchbook again and turned it to the page with the sketch of Herbert, “I um… was drawing you, yeah. I thought it’d be… a neat thank you gift for helping me get back into schooling.”

He stood and walked over to her, “May I see it?”

She turned and showed him, unsure of why she was so embarrassed. He gently grabbed the sketchbook, his hand brushing against hers and looked at it closer, “You never cease to surprise me with your skills.”

She felt a strange burst of pride from that compliment, grinning, “If you want, I could make something bigger using the sketch or…,” she trailed off when he shook his head, “If you don’t mind… I’d rather have the sketch. It feels more… real? I suppose?”

Surprised, she nodded, allowing him to rip the page out of the book. He handed it back to her, looking at the sketch, “Thank you.”

Rubi was feeling strange, her heart was hammering in her chest and she suddenly felt very warm. She stood to leave, mentioning needing to go do something vague. Herbert called out to her to stop for a moment. She turned, looking at him in question.

“At the end of the year, Miskatonic is holding a charity event. I have to go unfortunately, but… I’m in need of a plus one. Perhaps you would like to go with me?”

“Do I get to dress up?”

“Preferably, I believe it is a formal event.”

She grinned, “Sure. Maybe you can pretend I’m your girlfriend or something.”

He chuckled slightly, “I believe with how you and I were walking all over the school campus today, several people may already think that. Considering our own friends believe we have feelings for one another.”

“Haha… yeah…,” she grinned, “Ok… Maybe you can make them jealous then. You’re incredibly smart and you ended up getting a really cute friend who also happens to be a woman. That alone probably drives people crazy.”

“Oh I’m positive of that,” he said, turning back to his work, “You’re free to go, Rubi. I won’t hold you hostage any longer.”

She smiled and left. She wasn’t sure why he stopped avoiding her, but she was grateful for it. She didn’t see Herbert, looking fondly at the sketch she had made of him. He had been touched that she would do something like that as a thank you. His heart skipped, and he sighed in frustration.

Time to return to his work, he decided. He realized he could talk to Rubi without being awkward if he incorporated humor and banter, so he would be able to work in peace without feeling that strange guilt he had been experiencing. Perhaps the event at Miskatonic might finally put his feelings to rest.

He just had to wait two months.


	21. Chapter 21

Rubi walked around the morgue, familiarizing herself with the surroundings. The room in question she was currently in held several body parts in various jars and bags. She was fascinated by a particular body part; the head of a man, wrapped in a bag.

She couldn’t figure out what it was, but something about it made her uncomfortable. She decided to ask Dr. Graves about it.

“Oh that was Dr. Carl Hill. He was the previous pathologist who worked here. We don’t quite know what happened to him, but his head had been completely severed and smashed against a wall the night of the Miskatonic Massacre,” Dr. Graves explained, “Allegedly, he was the reason everything went to hell. No one really knows the full story, but it came out pretty quick that he might have been behind what happened to the previous Dean of Miskatonic.”

“That was Meg Halsey’s father, right?” She asked. Dr. Graves nodded, “Poor guy went crazy. Apparently attacked some students, your friend West and that guy Meg married. Said he’d been really mad about something and just… lost it. But then after the massacre it came out that Dr. Hill had been obsessed with Meg and apparently was planning on… well that’s not the important part. The important part is he died in the process of whatever happened that horrible night. Damn…”

Rubi looked at the head quietly, frowning. Hadn’t Herbert told her a while ago that he decapitated someone…? Her eyes widened in horror as she realized what might have happened. She leaned away, disgusted, “He sounded like a real piece of work.”

“You could say that. He really didn’t like West from what I remember. Said something about him being an insolent man with a large ego,” that sounded about right, “and he wanted nothing more than to just fail him out of school. Really couldn’t do that though, West seems to be a genius,” that also sounded about right.

“He’s helping me with school,” Rubi said casually. Dr. Graves laughed, “I’m not surprised honestly. He seems kind of attached to you. Which says a lot because that man… he doesn’t seem like the friend type. But he waits for you every day.”

Rubi had noticed that. Within the month since school started, Herbert had waited for Rubi to exit her classroom. It was nice, but she had definitely been getting looks from some of her classmates. They already didn’t seem to trust her too much because she just didn’t seem like the type to be going into this kind of profession. Now they’re seeing her hanging out with the strange Herbert West, a man well known for being aloof and off-putting toward others.

She didn’t mind it though. She’d been stared at before, it was nothing new. No, no. What bothered her was the questions. Was she dating West? Was he living with her? What’s he like when alone? He talks about working on a project, what is it? Why did he say something about a Martha? Who’s Martha? Question, question, question, question.

Rubi was still thinking about it as she left the morgue, Herbert waiting in his usual spot. She smiled and asked, “Hey, why do you wait for me every day?”

“It’s become a routine. Plus you only know three people in this entire building,” Herbert explained casually, walking beside her as they left the building to meet up with Meg and Dan. Herbert liked routine, he didn’t like spontaneity, the element of surprise always unnerved him.

“So what are you gonna work on later? Your weird science project?” She asked as they sat down. Herbert opened a book and began writing in it, “Perhaps. I’ve come to a bit of a stopping point with that, I need very specific parts and I don’t have them.”

Speaking in a hushed voice, Rubi said, “I thought you were gonna steal them from the morgue. What changed?”

He turned to her, “I have an idea that you could do that for me. You’re in there far more often than I am as of right now. And perhaps the night of that charity event, we could sneak away and gather what we need.”

“Ooh a romantic rendezvous,” Rubi teased. Herbert rolled his eyes, “Be serious, Rubi. This is very important to my work.”

“I know I know. I’m sorry,” she laughed. He got frustrated so easily, Rubi couldn’t help but poke fun occasionally.

He was writing again, probably thinking about his work, when Rubi smiled and said, “Do you ever think about how we really didn’t like each other when we first met?”

“I believe you’ve asked me that before,” he said quietly. She sighed, “I know but like… I called you a weasel and you called me a coward and I told you to fuck off. And now we’re friends. It’s just funny how that kind of stuff works.”

“The more someone gets to know another, the closer they become. It was most likely inevitable that we would become at the very least colleagues on positive terms.”

She grinned, “Is that your way of saying friends? Cuz that’s a mouthful.”

He glanced at her, a small, barely noticeable smile on his face, “Perhaps friends is the better term.”

Meg and Dan stood from a little ways off, watching Herbert and Rubi talk, “I’m telling you. Give them till the end of the year and something is gonna happen,” Meg said. Dan shrugged and placed his hands in his pockets.

“I mean yeah I see something happening too. He’s been… Nicer? It’s really weird.”

The two walked over and sat with Herbert and Rubi, interrupting whatever little conversation they had been having in private.

\--

Herbert sat in his shed later, thinking of how… nice, the day had been. He had been having several nice days since Rubi started going to Miskatonic. He liked being able to continue seeing her. He liked routine.

He heard his door open. Turning, he saw Martha, carrying several smaller opossums with her, “Ah, I’ve been wondering when you were going to show me the children. I’m grateful you waited till they were bigger and not still in your pouch because, frankly, I think seeing them come out of there would have terrified me.”

Martha seemed to grin and stop in front of him, the babies clambering off her and crawling around his feet. He picked up one that seemed to stand out compared to the others, it was smaller, and had a small tuft of dark fur on its forehead.

“She named that one after you,” Neighbor said, casually leaning on the door. He blinked in surprise, “How thoughtful.”

Martha jumped excitedly and ran around the room. Herbert tilted his head, “Neighbor, remind me that we need to record some words, I saw something about teaching animals how to talk using buttons and I thought it might be a nice little experiment to try on the opossums.”

“Sure that sounds safe,” Neighbor walked over and poked a disembodied arm, which twitched, “Hey what’s that?”

He noticed they were pointing at the sketch Rubi gave him, “Ah, Rubi sketched a picture of me about a month ago and I’ve kept it in here.”

“You should ask her to draw herself and give that to you, too. Get matching pics,” Neighbor grinned at the embarrassed look that crossed Herbert’s face. He was about to comment on something when Rubi came in.

“Hey I forgot to ask you something earlier but it completely just… left my brain for a bit,” she said, waving at Neighbor and carefully avoiding the baby opossums running around.

“Was Dr. Carl Hill the guy you killed? You said you decapitated a guy who tried to cross you or something.”

“Um… Yes,” Herbert said warily, wondering where she was going with this. He waited as she settled into the chair next to him.

“His head’s in the morgue.”

His eyes widened in surprise, “They managed to save it? How is it not completely decomposed? Last time I saw it, former Dean Halsey’s reanimated self crushed it and threw it against a wall. At least that’s what I think happened, I was trying not to die at the time…”

“Maybe it has to do with your reagent. You reanimated him after you killed him, right?” She asked. He looked a little guilty, “Well… yes.”

“Quick question, why? I mean… The guy was gonna steal your work, why would you reanimate the man who was gonna steal your work?”

“I didn’t think anyone would take a talking head seriously.”

“Wait, talking head?” Neighbor perked up suddenly, “Can I have it?”

“What? No, Neighbor this was a very bad man. He was… He did some gross stuff to Meg,” Rubi explained. Herbert leaned on the counter, “You could just say he assaulted her, they’re a teenager, not a child.”

“I’d rather not talk about uncomfortable topics like that, Herbert.”

“But he was a talking head?” Neighbor asked. Herbert nodded, “Surprisingly he could talk fairly well. His first words were, and I quote, ‘West. You bastard.’ Then his headless body knocked me unconscious.”

“To be fair you are kind of a bastard,” Rubi said teasingly. Martha climbed up Herbert’s leg and settled in his lap, her children following after. He unconsciously pet the opossum, “Now that isn’t very nice to say to your friend, is it?”

\--

“I want you to show me the head,” Herbert said quietly. Rubi looked at him incredulously, “You’re not using it for your project. He might come back and be all… I dunno he might try to find a way to attack you again or something.”

“Oh please, I just want to see it for myself.”

“Listen, when the charity event happens in a month, and we go to get those body parts you need, we’ll look then. I highly doubt that head’s gonna move anytime soon.”

She started to walk back into the house when he said, “It’s almost been two years.”

“Yeah.”

“Have you found..?”

“Not quite yet but I’ve gotten closer, I think,” she smiled at him, turning and walking back into her house. Herbert’s heart skipped. Did she mean that in a subtle, “I might like you more than I realize” way? Or just a “I’m in a better place mentally than I have been in months” way?

Either way, Herbert wanted to see the severed head of his former enemy. He’d look at the event. If he could wait that long.


	22. Chapter 22

The charity event was finally here and Herbert felt… nervous. He knew they wouldn’t get caught stealing body parts, he and Rubi had a plan. No… He wasn’t nervous about that.

He was nervous about what Rubi was wearing. A simple dress at first glance, with a long zipper up the front, and thin straps on the shoulders. It was very… her. Her hands were covered with lace fingerless gloves, and she wore dark tights and her favorite boots. Her makeup matched, dark lipstick and smoky eyeshadow made her green eyes practically glow.

She made the outfit work, and Herbert couldn’t figure out how. She grinned excitedly at him, “You think if I go looking like this everyone will think I’m some kind of freak?”

“I highly doubt that,” he replied, glancing at her bare shoulders for a brief moment. She had freckles he hadn’t seen before, “I’m not used to you wearing clothes that show your shoulders.”

“I’m self-conscious about my shoulders because they’re a little broad. Sometimes I’ll wear stuff like this, but it’s not very often.”

“Are you going to get cold? We are going to go into the morgue at some point, not to mention it’s starting to get colder outside.”

Rubi held up a jacket, “I am prepared, Herbert. No worries.”

\--

The event was, to put it nicely, one of the most boring things Rubi had ever been a part of. She felt herself looking at the clock several times, waiting for the moment she and Herbert could sneak out to go steal some stuff.

She was kind of surprised with herself, willing to steal body parts for her friend. But honestly anything was more entertaining than this boring charity event moaning and groaning about the past while also asking for money for the school.

Finally after what seemed like ages, Herbert tugged her away inconspicuously, the two making their way to the morgue. Rubi was grateful her grandpa had told her ahead of time there would only be security at the event and not in the actual morgue.

Sneaking in, they made their way to the freezer. The two looked around for a little while before finally finding Hill’s head. Rubi pulled him over, “Here he is. Now, please tell me what else happened that night cuz you only gave me some detail.”

He was laughing, an eerie chuckle at the sight of his former enemy’s severed head, “Oh he tried to reanimate several dead corpses, lobotomized them, and used psychic connection to have them attack myself, Dan, and Meg. But look at him now. His attempts at stealing my work have failed miserably and now he’s nothing but a no-body.”

Rubi couldn’t help it, she laughed, “Was.. was that a pun, West??”

He laughed, “Of course, I do have a sense of humor, occasionally.”

Both were laughing quietly to themselves, Rubi leaning in as she whispered through her laughing, “He’s… He’s just a dead head!”

The two laughed harder, Rubi leaning on Herbert’s arm for support. The laughter died down as they took in how close they were to one another. Those feelings from the day she explained Hill’s head was in the freezer returned as they looked at one another.

Herbert felt himself leaning forward, and was surprised to see her leaning in as well, closing in when the door opened, revealing Dan, “What the hell are you guys- oh am I interrupting something?”

“Ah Dan,” Herbert leaned away, much to Rubi’s disappointment, “We wanted to get away from the boring party and find something more interesting to do, is all.”

“I can see that,” Dan said, his voice sounded relieved, “I thought you guys might have come in here to steal body parts or something weird.”

“Wait… What did you think we were doing just now?” Rubi asked. Dan shrugged, “Not my business. Just please don’t steal anything,” he left, saying something along the lines of, “Don’t have too much fun.”

Rubi looked to Herbert in confusion before the two began gathering body parts, placing them in large duffle bags Rubi had hidden previously. Just a couple pieces, not enough to do anything with.

The two made their way out of the building in secret, leaving the ridiculous party and driving home. As soon as they placed the corpse parts in the freezer Rubi had installed into the shed, they sighed with relief.

“Well that was… something else,” Rubi said quietly. Herbert nodded, still feeling whatever had almost happened in that freezer. He wanted to see what happened if he leaned in again, but the moment didn’t feel right.

Rubi smiled, “I think I’m going to go to bed. I’ve had enough adventure to last me a while. Goodnight,” she left, leaving him standing there, feeling triumphant and confused.

\--

The head was gone and Rubi didn’t know where Dr. Graves was. Some other pathologist was there and said something about him being sick.

Rubi ran out of the morgue, practically running into Herbert, “What is it? What happened?” He asked frantically. She was breathing hard and her eyes were wide, “Hill’s head is gone.”

Herbert went cold. He gently grabbed her hands and pried them off her, holding them gently, “What do you mean, ‘gone?’”

“I mean his head was fucking gone Herbert!” She hissed through her teeth, pulling him close, “Dr. Graves is gone. Did we leave anything in the morgue last night?”

Herbert thought, “Oh god. I had a vial of reagent with me, just in case. It must have fallen out.”

“You idiot!” She hissed, smacking his chest in retaliation, “What if he used that shit on Hill? Will he reanimate a second time??”

“I’d say it’s unlikely but it’s not something I’ve tested more than one time on...,” he trailed off, “It might reanimate him again.”

“But he’s just a head right? He can’t do anything to us, right?”

Herbert frowned. It’s true that since Hill’s body was destroyed by an overdose of reagent, he was only a head, but Hill was smart, he would find a way.

“Your silence is making me very concerned,” Rubi’s voice broke him from his thoughts.

He patted her hand, “Nothing to work yourself up over. We should be fine.”

He worried about it all the rest of the day, however. Rubi was frantically thinking of ways to make sure no disembodied heads would come around.

—

Dr. Carl Hill, once a famous pathologist at Miskatonic, was now nothing more than a severed head in a dish. Dr. Graves wasn’t sure why he took the head, or why he injected the head with the weird glowing liquid he found in a plastic vial on the floor.

But the severed head opened his eyes and seemed to breathe, much to Dr. Graves’s horror and fascination.

Dr. Hill was ready for revenge. He had a vague memory of West, mocking him. Then he remembered a girl he didn’t recognize. Some pretty little thing that was laughing right along with West.

He would get revenge on West, starting with the girl.

—

“Why are my ears burning?” Herbert said irritably.

“Usually when your ears burn someone’s thinking about you,” Rubi said nonchalantly, “It’s probably nothing dude.”

“Who on earth would be thinking about me at,” he looked at his watch, “Four in the morning?”

Rubi playfully smiled and raised her hand. He rolled his eyes, “What on earth are you thinking about me for? I’m right here?”

“I know but I was thinking about the charity thing,” she stood and walked over to him, “How you were leaning against me as we laughed over a dead man’s head,” she leaned her face a little closer to his and Herbert felt his face heat up, “And how you started leaning in like-,”

There was a crash, causing Rubi to jump away in frustration, “Martha I know that’s you!”

Sure enough, the opossum poked her head from behind a trash can sheepishly.

“Why was she hiding there?”

Rubi shrugged, “Neighbor said something about Martha enjoying watching us interact.”

“Why..?”

Rubi raised her eyebrows dramatically, “We’re a living soap opera to her, you know that.”

Herbert sighed, nodding in defeat, “True.”

Rubi casually walked out of the shed, “I’m gonna go make some coffee do you want any?”

“Disgusting.”

“Black it is.”

Herbert, frustrated followed after her, “I don’t want any of your gross-,” he stopped when she turned to look at him. He practically ran into her with how fast she stopped, and she looked down slightly at him with an expression similar to what he saw in the morgue.

“What do you want then?” She asked quietly. Herbert didn’t answer, so she turned and walked back in to the house.

Damn woman, he thought. Why was she teasing him like this? She’s never done so before...

A thought crossed his mind. Could it be possible that she..? No. No... there was no way.

He followed her into the house, watching her movements.

Rubi was trying for once. If he really liked her the way everyone said he did, she decided she was willing to give it a shot. She had come to realize that she definitely liked him more than she had expected that night in the morgue. He had leaned in like he was going to kiss her that night, and if he had, she realized she would have let him.

She leaned on the counter as the coffee machine started, glancing at Herbert with half lidded eyes, “I didn’t finish what I was telling you earlier.”

“You told me enough, I think,” Herbert felt nervous suddenly. Was she really attempting to flirt knowingly with him or was she just stating the obvious.

He was aware of how close she had gotten again, leaning further on the table so she was close to him, “Why were you leaning in that night?”

He knew what she meant, “Why were you?”

She smiled, a soft, genuine smile, “Guess I got tired of fighting things.”

He was leaning on the counter now too, their faces mere inches away from one another. She was moving toward him again when there was a knock on the door. Herbert sighed in irritation, “Who the hell would be here at this hour?”

Rubi shrugged and went to get the door. Herbert waited in the kitchen.

He heard the sound of wood breaking and a scream and ran, seeing the door was in shambles. Rubi was nowhere to be seen.

On the ground was a note.

“I have her.”

It was signed Hill.

“You bastard,” Herbert said under his breath, running out into the night, hoping to catch up to the one who took Rubi.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUCKING FINALLY! This has been plaguing me for days now. Also if the Bride of Reanimator movie can drop Dr. Graves, so can I, cuz he never shows up again, just assume he was killed.

Rubi was scared and uncomfortable. Strapped to a cold, metal table, she took in her surroundings. She was in the morgue at Miskatonic. How she had gotten there, she couldn’t remember. But something in the pit of her stomach was telling her she needed to get the hell out while she still could.

She struggled, the binds on her wrists just a little too tight. They cut into the skin, and she could feel her wrists burning.

“Struggling... will do you know good,” a raspy voice told her. She glanced over to the direction it came from and was met with a horrible sight. Dr. Carl Hill’s head was sitting on the nearby table, Dr. Graves stitching bag wings on the side of his head.

“What are you doing?!” She cried. The doctor turned somberly, “I have no choice.”

She screamed in frustration, fighting against her binds again. Breathing heavily, she growled, “How the hell are you even alive? You were a severed head in a refrigerator last time I saw you!”

“I was not dead. The reagent in me kept me alive, but it was low…,” his voice rasped, “I couldn’t do very much. But I could do enough.”

Rubi glanced at Dr. Graves again, worried about what he might be dealing with. He seemed almost in a trance.

Hearing the sound of groaning from a corner, Rubi frantically looked over and saw several reanimated corpses, waiting. Her panic grew as she turned her wide eyes back to Hill, now testing his new mobility.

“Don’t worry. They won’t harm you,” his voice made her shudder in disgust, “They’ve been ordered to kill West.”

“Is that why you grabbed me? You don’t even know me! For all you know, I’m some random lady you kidnapped thinking I know him!”

“I saw the two of you. That night you came into the morgue. As I told you… I wasn’t dead. Merely… immobile.”

If Rubi’s eyes could have widened further, they would have. He had been able to see them, making jokes about him being just a head. He could have heard them.

“Regardless,” Rubi choked out, “I… I doubt he’d come for me! We may be friends but his work is far, far more important than someone expendable like me. He can always find a new roommate.”

“See, the problem is, I like the roommate I have right now and losing them after finally coming to terms with a few things, might be a tad bit ridiculous,” a new voice spoke. Herbert stepped into the room, both anger and horror present on his face as he looked at the horrifying abomination that used to be Dr. Hill.

“Herbert what the fuck are you doing here?” Rubi cried, “I know for a fact that you had to have known this was a trap!”

“Yes but I’m rather irritated that Hill got you involved in the first place. Kidnapping another woman, you lecherous bastard?” Herbert’s eyes darkened in anger as he glared at Hill, “A woman I care about, nonetheless. For shame, you worthless atrocity to mankind. I should have never reanimated you, I let my own curiosity get in the way. I won’t let that happen again.”

Rubi would have felt flattered over Herbert saying he cared about her had she not been busy trying to break free of her bindings, “Um, little help, Herbert?”

As soon as she said that, the corpses attacked. Herbert yelled out, “Stop!” And as if by some miracle, they stopped, staring at him confused. Hill looked completely caught off guard.

“What the hell are you doing you worthless pieces of flesh!?” Hill’s voice growled out. Herbert smiled bitterly, “You used my reagent, Hill. Regardless of whatever power you have over them, they listen to me first.”

Hill let out a horrifying scream, flinging himself toward Herbert. Herbert ducked down and ran over to Rubi, undoing her binds. He surprisingly winced when he noticed the ugly marks on her wrists, “I’ll help you with those later. For now, we need to get out of here.”

He helped Rubi off the table, and the two started running. Rubi felt a sense of déjà vu as the two made their way down a long corridor.

“This would be romantic under different circumstances,” Rubi attempted to joke, “It’s like the first night we met.”

“Now is not the time for jokes,” Herbert said, looking around before finding a scalpel on a nearby table in the hall, “But you’re correct in a way.”

“What, that it’s romantic or that it was like the first night we met?”

“That it-,” he stopped mid-sentence as the two heard a groan. Running down the hall were some of the corpses, bleeding and disgusting. Herbert managed to knock one to the ground, stabbing it several times in the throat, while Rubi tackled the other, smashing its head into the ground.

“You’ve gotten incredibly violent. Perhaps therapy might be an option?” Herbert said. Rubi whipped her head in surprise, seeing a slight smile on his face, “Are you teasing me at a time like this? What happened to ‘now is not the time for jokes’?”

“Sometimes- hold on,” Herbert jerked his hand back, pulling the scalpel out of the once more dead body, “Sometimes humor is better than nothing, I assume.”

“West!!!!” Hill’s voice called. Rubi glared down the hallway, “He’s not gonna fucking leave us alone is he?”

“Not until he’s actually dead, unfortunately.”

“You,” Hill, now flying around them, looking directly at Rubi, “You have some sort of potential to you. Why be with someone like West when you could work with me? You deserve so much better!”

Rubi felt a strange feeling settle over her for a moment. She stilled, looking at him with almost glassy eyes. Herbert glared at Hill, glancing worriedly at Rubi as she stood.

Her eyes turned to Herbert for a moment, and he breathed a sight of relief as the vacant stare faded back to her normal expressions. She turned back and glared at Hill.

“Good thing my standards are so fucking low, then,” Rubi said seriously, throwing her fist back and ramming it directly into Hill’s face. He went flying across the hall.

Rubi shook her hand out, “Fuck that hurt. I hope I shoved his nose into his fucking brain.. Bastard.”

Herbert, feeling a rush of adrenaline thanks to the entire situation, seemed to lose control of his own will. He grabbed her face and pulled it over, kissing her with a surprising amount of passion. Rubi, caught off guard, stood there for a moment before he pulled away.

“Let’s get out of here. I’m fairly certain he’s not going to come back from that,” Herbert sounded breathless. He was surprised, she hadn’t pulled away from him. Granted she didn’t do anything else, but she hadn’t pulled away.

Even more surprising to him, she grabbed his hand and nodded. The two ran out of the building, thankful it was still dark outside as they made their way home.

\--

“Ow! Fuck,” Rubi muttered. Herbert tried to be as gentle as possible as he medicated the wounds on her wrists. She kept flinching whenever he would attempt to put medicine on the affected areas.

“Rubi, you need to hold still. If I don’t properly clean and medicate these, you’ll get infections,” he reprimanded. She huffed, “I’m sorry Mr. ‘Heat of the Moment’, but it fucking hurts.”

He glanced up at her with a slightly amused expression, “’Heat of the Moment’?”

“The kiss you dumbass.”

“Ah.”

The word hung in the air for a moment before Rubi huffed again, “Do I really have to do everything myself Jesus fucking Christ… We need to talk about it, Herbert.”

“What is there to talk about?”

“Why did you kiss me?”

“Why didn’t you back away, if you were so bothered by it?”

“I wasn’t bothered by it. It’s just not… how I expected it to happen.”

He turned his head up in surprise, “Not how you… What do you mean?”

“Well,” she mumbled, “For starters I was beginning to think I would be the one to initiate at the rate you were going. It had gotten to the point where you weren’t even trying to hide your feelings anymore. I could tell you like me…”

“And you have romantic feelings for me, as well?” He asked, his voice monotone as he turned back to work on her wrists.

“Yes you fucking moron,” she moved her hands away from his, grabbed his face, and kissed him. He wanted to continue medicating her wrists because he was concerned about infection, but in that moment his brain seemed to shut off and he realized he was kissing her back. His arms cautiously wrapped around her waist as she pulled him a little closer. Her arms moved till they were around his shoulders.

He broke away first, “Rubi I need to-,” she kissed him again, “I know, shut up and bandage my stupid wrists.”

He moved away slightly, his face burning as he finished wrapping her wrists, “So… what… happens now?” He asked, cautious. She grabbed his hand, “Well I guess we’re dating now, genius.”

“Oh.”


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much opossum content this chapter!

Herbert had somehow managed to not only find Dr. Hill’s head after the incident, but he had also managed to sneak it back out of Miskatonic and back to his home. Rubi was not pleased.

“What the FUCK is that doing here?” She asked in horror. Herbert simply smiled as he placed the head into a jar, “I felt it would be better if he stayed with us because he can’t manipulate anyone else to give him reagent this way. You proved easily that you could ignore his strange, almost psychic manipulation. I doubt he can do anything else at this point. His nose is broken from where you punched him, look!”

He seemed almost giddy as he pointed out Hill’s broken nose. Rubi rolled her eyes, chuckling, “You think he’s really dead this time?”

“Most definitely. He’s in a jar of formaldehyde, there’s no coming back from that.”

Rubi poked the jar, moving it slightly, and cringing when the head floated around in the liquid, “Do you want… to keep it here? I feel like having the head of your former enemy always nearby would feel…. Uncomfortable?”

He shrugged, “I suppose it might cause some anxiety for you, but I’m not bothered.”

“Maybe we could give it to Neighbor for their birthday…,” Rubi joked, her face paling as she muttered under her breath, “Wh… Whenever that is.”

Herbert blinked at her in question, before shaking his head and looking back at the head, “I don’t think it would be a good idea to give a literal child a dismembered head, Rubi.”

“Listen, Herbert,” Rubi said, her tone weirdly serious, “I’m not kidding when I say I don’t even know how old they are anymore. I keep getting told their birthday is ‘soon,’ but I don’t know when ‘soon’ is and it’s literally gonna drive me crazy.”

“Rubi I know Neighbor is kind of different but aren’t they just a teenager?”

“I don’t know.”

Neighbor happened to walk into the shed and worm their way between the couple, “Hey is that a head? Can I have it?”

Herbert blinked in surprise, “Um… I was going to throw it in the lake,” he said quickly. Neighbor shook their head.

“Bad idea. It’d get thrown back at you.”

“What?” Herbert and Rubi said at once, watching dumbly as Neighbor picked up the jar and walked off, “You heard me! And thanks for the cool head!”

Just like that, they were alone again, Rubi trying to keep her composure as Herbert’s face grew more and more perplexed. She finally burst into laughter when he muttered, “What just happened?”

\--

“What do we call each other anyway? Now that we’re dating, I mean,” Rubi asked. Herbert looked up in question, stopping his note taking after he checked on the small finger creature, who Rubi had been keeping in her room as of late.

“Our names?”

“Herbert I’m serious. I mean… you don’t seem like the type to be called someone’s boyfriend… and I dunno how you would feel about calling me your girlfriend.”

He thought about it, “I’ve been calling you my partner in my head. It doesn’t sound quite as… childish.”

“That works, that works,” she grinned. He had already been thinking about stuff like that? How charming.

“Oh hey you were gonna help me with some work I got from school,” Rubi remembered, tapping him on the shoulder. He turned to her, closing his notebook, “I suppose I did say I would help you, didn’t I.”

The two walked over and sat on the couch, Rubi pulling her books and notes out, “Ok so I had a couple of questions that I think you can help me with…”

They worked for a few hours, Herbert almost enjoying the break from his normal work to be participating in something almost… normal. Although, he’d rather die than admit that.

Rubi was leaning on him as she wrote, her back to his shoulder as he read aloud. She finished writing, “Okay that should… be everything? I think.”

“If you have any other questions, I’ll help.”

“Thanks Herbert,” she said softly, not moving from her position. He noticed she seemed a little down, “Is… everything alright?” He asked.

“Huh? Oh, uh… yeah I guess, I mean… Gerald is mad about… you know, the whole you and me dating thing.”

“I’m not surprised. That opossum absolutely abhors me. But I feel like there’s more to that?”

“He hasn’t been coming over since he saw us kiss. I haven’t had a painting day with him in like three days.”

Herbert grew quiet. He was trying not to get mad at a literal animal, but these opossums had already proven to be smarter than your average marsupial. Gerald was avoiding Rubi and it was upsetting her. Which, in turn, was making Herbert mad.

“Should I discuss this with Neighbor? See if they could talk to him?”

“No… I’m hoping he’ll stop being mad and come back over here and things will go back to normal,” she mumbled, “I know I shouldn’t be all worked up over a silly thing but… I mean… it’s like if Martha decided not to visit you anymore.”

The thought, surprisingly to Herbert, terrified him. He hated how much he had grown attached to that motherly opossum, “I understand.”

\--

“I need you to explain to Gerald that he’s making Rubi depressed,” Herbert explained. Neighbor sighed, “Believe me I’ve been trying to but he’s stubborn and he keeps going to the other neighbor’s house? And she keeps telling him that you’re a horrible person and you’re a bad influence and stuff.”

“Well that’s just ridiculous. I suppose I need to go over to the other neighbor’s home?” Herbert said, irritated. Who was this other neighbor and why was she saying such nasty things about him?

“No, no. Listen, Steve’s gonna handle it.”

“S…Steve? Large opossum, father of Martha’s joeys, sleeps all day… That Steve?”

Neighbor nodded, “Yeah, Martha told him that he needed to go talk some sense into Gerald because Rubi’s nice and doesn’t deserve her friend abandoning her just because he doesn’t like her boyfriend.”

“Partner.”

“Partner,” they grinned, “That works better than boyfriend. You don’t look like the boyfriend type.”

“So I’ve been told,” Herbert noticed Gerald running by, Steve surprisingly running right behind him, making noises that could only be described as angry.

He watched, fascinated, as the two opossums seemed to be conversing. He noticed Gerald looked… bigger. Must have been eating extra at this other neighbor’s house.

Gerald looked right at Herbert and hissed. Herbert frowned, “Don’t look at me, you’re the one who hurt her feelings,” he said sternly.

Gerald huffed and turned back to Steve, who just looked at him sleepily. Herbert leaned over to Neighbor, “What’s happening now..?”

“Steve said you were right. I can’t say what Gerald said though, it wasn’t very nice.”

“Oh.”

The two watched as Gerald finally changed his body language, no longer holding a tense pose as he seemed to finally understand what was happening, “I think Steve got through to him,” Neighbor whispered, “Good job Steve. Hey, West, where is Rubi?”

“She’s in her art room, she wanted to be alone.”

As if he heard, Gerald booked it into the house.

\--

Rubi sat on the floor, sketching, when she heard the door behind her open, “Look Herbert, I know you wanna help but I said-,” it wasn’t Herbert.

It was Gerald. The large opossum walked over to her almost tentatively, as if apologetic for how he’d been acting. She watched him walk over to her, then plop down on the ground next to her leg.

“I’m trying not to get emotional, Gerald,” Rubi said quietly, “Do you wanna paint?”

He jumped up quickly, “He thought once you and West got together, you wouldn’t want to paint with him anymore,” Neighbor explained, leaning in the doorway. Herbert peeked from behind the door, watching.

“Now why would you think something so silly?” She asked the opossum. He ran around the room, paint on his little feet. There were opossum footprints everywhere.

Herbert made eye contact with Gerald for a moment, who seemed to nod at him. He nodded slightly back. A silent truce would have to do for them.


	25. Chapter 25

Herbert looked at the necklace hanging loosely from the corpse he’d just dug up. Something about it really reminded him of Rubi. It was a simple necklace, really. A small heart shaped pendant, a deep ruby color, with a black flower in the middle. Perhaps the color was what reminded him of her.

Without a second thought, he snatched it off the corpse and pushed it down into his shirt pocket. He’d come up with an excuse as to how he got it later. For now, he had a new specimen to work on.

\--

Rubi was cleaning the house when she heard the phone ring. Confused as to who was calling at this hour, she walked over and picked the phone up, “Hello?”

“Now is the time for you to visit. If you want information, come next door,” the person on the other end, clearly a woman’s voice, said before abruptly hanging up. Rubi looked up at her window, looking at the other house and seeing the curtains shift.

Herbert wouldn’t be back for a few hours, he had gone out grave digging since the two had nearly gotten into trouble over Miskatonic discovering body parts, and Hill’s head, missing. It was too risky to get more parts from there, now.

She walked over to the other house, looking up at the dilapidated building as she reached forward to knock. The door opened on its own, swinging back ominously. Rubi, cautious, stepped inside. The room was dark, but she could barely make out a large, cluttered living room.

“Come in,” the voice from earlier said. As her eyes adjusted, Rubi realized the woman before her was older, with long, long hair tied into a bun. Her eyes were tired, as if she had seen far too much of the cruelty of the world.

“Who are you..?” Rubi asked softly.

“My name is Edna, and you’re playing a very dangerous game by being involved with that fool West.”

\--

Herbert felt like something was wrong, but he brushed the feeling off at first. The feeling persisted, and Herbert ultimately decided he needed to go home to check on Rubi. He felt foolish for not just bringing her with him but she had said something about not wanting to get her clothes messy. He rolled his eyes and muttered to himself that he was going to get her something to wear over her clothes so she could go with him next time.

\--

“How do you know Herbert?” Rubi asked. She glanced around the living room, uneasy. Edna sat in her arm chair, opening a notebook.

“I worked with him and Dr. Gruber in Switzerland. We were all working on the reagent formula. After Gruber died, the two of us went our separate ways. I told him to cease this foolish work, as we had seen what happened several times at this point. I’m sure you’ve seen it, too, now.”

Rubi didn’t say anything, letting the mysterious woman continue, “I moved here about a month before West started going to Miskatonic. I know he was involved with that horrible incident that happened two years ago, although I don’t know how, just that his reagent was obviously the cause.”

“Dr. Carl Hill had stolen his work from him,” Rubi explained, “And then reanimated a whole bunch of corpses that he could control so they would attack Herbert when he inevitably showed up in the morgue.”

“I see,” Edna seemed unenthused, “But he managed to get out of the entire situation unscathed. And, it seems, he gained some…,” she eyed Rubi almost judgingly, “Interesting acquaintances.”

“Look, obviously you have some kind of issue toward Herbert, I’m kinda not surprised by that at this point,” Rubi said, trying to ignore the cold stare, “But he’s… kind of gotten better. He’s not as much of an asshole… usually. Sometimes he still is but he’s honestly kind of changed since I first met him.”

“I’m sure that’s true, but let me ask you, is he still trying to reanimate the dead..?”

Rubi hesitated. While it was true that Herbert had been slowing down on his work and spending more time with her, he was still trying to bring people back from death.

“Do you want to know what happens when you get closer to perfecting reagent?” Edna’s voice, cold, almost unemotional, but with a small, small hint of sadness hidden in there, broke Rubi from her thoughts.

“While they come back, they are not who they once were. They have complete functionality, but it’s not them. Even without the violent tendencies, there’s not actual life in their eyes.”

“How…do you know if that’s true if the reagent isn’t perfected?” Rubi asked, fear bubbling in her chest.

“Because she used a slightly altered version on her son,” a new voice said. Rubi whipped her head around to see Herbert, mud on his shoes and legs, splotches on his shirt and face. He didn’t look very happy.

“Ah, I was wondering when you were going to show up,” Edna sneered. She stood, “I believe our time is up, Rubi. It was… a pleasure to officially meet the significant other of the ‘great’ Herbert West.”

“We’re not done here,” Herbert said coldly. Rubi hadn’t heard him speak in such a tone for a long time, and it made her body grow cold, “Did you follow me here? Did you know I was going to come here?”

“Oh of course not, West,” she waved him off, “I can’t read your mind. I couldn’t possibly have known you were going to go from Switzerland to Massachusetts. It’s all just one big coincidence. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do. Good evening.”

That was their cue to leave, and Rubi wanted nothing more than to leave immediately. She walked over to Herbert, “Come on,” she mumbled, grabbing his hand and pulling him along. He watched Edna with an angry glare until she shut her front door.

\--

“Perhaps moving might be a good idea,” Herbert said softly, running his hands through his hair, “I had no idea she was living next door. She’s very dangerous.”

“She’s just a person, how is she dangerous?”

“She could easily call the police on us, Rubi,” Herbert’s voice shook slightly, “All my work would be ruined and we’d go to prison.”

“Oh…,” she hadn’t thought about it, “But… She hadn’t done it yet, you’ve been living here for two years! If she knew you were living here then wouldn’t she have done something by now?”

“That’s what I was thinking but I’m beginning to wonder if perhaps… she’s merely taunting me. She knows I’ll grow paranoid, waiting for the inevitable arrest that will probably happen. I’m going to be ruined.”

“Hey…,” Rubi reached out and grabbed his hands, pulling them away from his hair, “Listen… it’s ok, ok? We’ll think…. We’ll think of something, alright? Maybe I can talk to her…?”

“I don’t want you going over there again, Rubi,” his voice was stern, “It’s not safe. She’s not safe. She hates me. I don’t think you seem to understand that. If I had been over there alone, she would have actively tried to kill me.”

“Why…?”

“It’s very complicated. The part you need to know is that she was very adamant about not continuing the reagent project.”

Rubi was silent for a moment, still holding Herbert’s hands in her own. In a quiet voice, she said, “She reanimated her son..?”

He grimaced, “Yes. It was not pretty, at least from what I gathered in the very, very brief mention of it. You see… Edna was the person who originally came up with the idea of reanimation. But she decided to abandon the project. Dr. Gruber knew her and the two had discussed it when I was first working with him. Apparently she had been working on this since I was a mere child, including the incident with her son. She shelved the project for several years before I came into the picture, and when Dr. Gruber found some of her old notes, he managed to get her to help him work on perfecting it. Then I came into the picture and became fascinated to the point of…,” he stopped to find the right word.

“Obsession?” Rubi said quietly.

He frowned, “Obsession is quite a strong term but if you feel that is the case, then yes. I became fascinated to the point of obsession. Edna didn’t want someone ‘so young’ as she put it, to be working on something like this, but I refused to listen. Eventually Dr. Gruber died and I attempted reanimation, but the dosage was too large and… well you know the rest.”

“You conveniently left Edna out, though,” Rubi pointed out. Herbert sighed, “She was out of the picture by that point, she had left a few days prior, saying she couldn’t continue working on such a horrible experiment. Honestly, I thought I’d never see her again,” he grimaced, “I wish that had been the last time I saw her.”

It was a lot to take in, realizing how close to danger Rubi actually was. Herbert cared more for Rubi than he ever thought possible, and knowing how easily Edna could ruin not only his life, but Rubi’s as well, terrified him more than he probably would ever admit.

“Listen to me, Rubi,” Herbert said softly, “If something happens, and the police do come… I want you to act as though you know absolutely nothing that I’ve been doing.”

“What? Why would I do that I don’t-,” he interrupted her by shaking his head, “Don’t. Rubi, I don’t want you to go to prison because of my work. I don’t want to go to prison for my work either, but I refuse to let you meet that fate. You don’t deserve it.”

“That’s probably the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me considering I’ve been helping you for roughly two years now and have enough blood on my hands to probably get arrested too.”

He smiled, just a little. Remembering what was in his pocket, he pulled the necklace out, “I was… out earlier, and saw this. It reminded me of you so I thought you might want it.”

He held it up for her to look at. Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked at it, “Oh it’s so pretty. Herbert that’s… strangely thoughtful of you.”

He placed it around her neck, “Lovely.”

She grinned, “Listen, Herbert,” she grabbed his hand, “I want to forget about the fact that we could get arrested. We live in a really weird part of town, and we live next door to a family that has a teen who’s been fiftteen for like three years and can talk to opossums. I think… we’ll be ok. We’ll take things one day at a time, come up with a plan just in case to make sure no one can arrest us and stuff. You’re good at covering your tracks, right?”

He nodded, “Right… right… Ok, we’ll be fine…”

He didn’t feel too sure, for once.


	26. Chapter 26

Rubi wanted to know who the hell had tried to get them arrested. She stood, cold from the night air, answering questions while Herbert frantically cleaned up, leaving no trace of evidence that he had been performing tasks that would be considered unethical.

“Like I said, I’ve never heard of r... did you call it reanimation or cremation? Because I’ve heard of cremation,” Rubi lied easily, grateful that spending time with Herbert honed in her acting skills.

“Our source says you and Mr. West were both present during this reanimation process, as they put it,” the officer replied, raising an eyebrow.

“When did you say this was? I tend to go visit friends or my grandpa a lot, so I might have actually been there.”

“About three months ago on the 14th.”

“Oh! I was at my neighbor’s all evening. They’re right next door in their home, if you wanted to hear them tell you instead of me. Herbert was with us. I’ve been trying to get him to socialize more.”

He seemed convinced, but decided to go ask Neighbor and their parents. She chewed on her lip, hoping that as long as they didn’t specify time, Neighbor would tell them that yes, Rubi and Herbert had been there.

She hoped the officer would be too put off by the wonderfully odd family to ask the question correctly.

Herbert peeked our the front door, “Is it safe to come out?”

“Yep. For now anyway.”

He stepped out, holding a few large trash bags. He ran quickly down the driveway and threw the bags into the dumpster.

“I threw out a lot of my clothes and unfortunately some of yours. Couldn’t get the stains out.”

“Damn guess we’ll have to go shopping,” Rubi sighed. Waiting was the worst part.

Several minutes passed and the officer, looking slightly unnerved, left the home, “You two are off the hook. Sorry for the trouble.”

“Oh officer, could you tell us who called the cops on us?”

“I’m afraid not ma’am, it’s confidential.”

Rubi smiled sweetly, “Completely understood. Have a good evening! Sorry for the mess!”

After the officer left, Rubi and Herbert ran over to Neighbor’s, “Did he tell you who called on us?” Rubi asked them.

Neighbor nodded, “Yeah some guy named Graves. He was so freaked out he answered like immediately. Dunno why.”

Rubi saw red, “You’re... you’re sure it was Graves?”

“Yeah.”

Rubi had never wanted to kill someone before. But she certainly was thinking about it.

Herbert placed a hand on her arm, “I saw that look. Don’t get any ridiculous ideas. What’s done is done, and we don’t know where he is, anyway.”

“I could find out if I dig up enough info,” Rubi mumbled.

Sighing, Herbert laced his fingers with hers, pulling her back to their house, “I believe a distraction is in order. Come along, we’ll go do something to get your mind off the situation.”

—

Painting was not the distraction Rubi had been hoping for, but it helped some.

Herbert was terrible at it, of course, but he was mostly just trying to calm his partner down. He didn’t really care that he was terrible at painting.

He had something else in mind but felt that would not be a good idea at this point in time.

“How do you see color so much better than I do? It’s quite frustrating,” Herbert muttered, feigning irritation. If anything, he was hiding his worry over Rubi going and doing something she might regret.

“Color theory. Went to school for it,” she said, a pencil clenched between her teeth. Her brushstrokes were precise, almost mechanical in her movement. Herbert was pretty sure art wasn’t helping.

He sighed, gently grabbing her hand, “This isn’t helping you, is it?”

Rubi looked from the angry, red painting to him, “What gave you that idea?”

He tried to hide a smile. At least her sarcasm was still intact currently.

She leaned forward and kissed him, “I was scared,” she said softly, looking at the ground, “If they had found anything they would have taken you from me. Or they would have taken us both to jail or an asylum or something.”

She was shaking now, her eyes hidden behind dark bangs, but Herbert saw tears falling, “I can’t lose you. Not after it took me so long to find someone. Not after the hell I’ve been through. I’m pretty sure it would kill me.”

He pulled her into a gentle embrace, the two sinking to the floor so she could lean on him. Cautiously, as if she were fragile, he stroked her hair. He wasn’t good at comfort, but this was something he could do.

She clung to him, still shaking as soft sobs wracked her body. He held her a little tighter, hoping to calm her down somehow.

“I don’t wanna lose you,” she whispered. Herbert felt his heart skip. That was the closest to an i love you he had ever heard from her. He gently moved her face to look at him, kissing her forehead softly.

The two sat there for a while, saying nothing and simply existing together. Unsure of the future.


	27. Chapter 27

Herbert sighed as he carried the cat food tiredly, “Tell me again why you needed me to come with you and not Rubi?”

“Because,” Neighbor said, not elaborating further. Herbert sighed again, shifting the weight of the bag as he walked close by the teen.

Something caught his eye as they passed a jewellery store, a ring display. Herbert stopped and looked at the rings, his mind wandering for a moment.

“Hey West, you ok?” Neighbor asked, stepping up beside him. He nodded, looking quietly at the rings.

“I want to get one of these for...,” he faltered, “She showed me... the last one and it doesn’t fit anymore so I thought... maybe...”

He turned and watched Neighbor walk into the store, “Hi what kind of engagement rings would be good for a goth woman? My friend is looking for one for his girlfriend and he’s too shy to ask.”

“Neighbor what are you-,” Herbert ran in after them, his face burning. The lady behind the counter smiled, “Other than black, what color does she like?”

“R... red? She likes red.”

The lady nodded, pulling some rings out, “Now normally this is something you would do with her around but I’m assuming this is a surprise?”

“It’s kind of spur of the moment.”

She nodded, holding out some rings for him to look at. One caught his eye, a ring with black metal, and a red jewel in the middle. He leaned closer, “Are those skulls?”

“Yes sir.”

“That one. That one’s perfect.”

—

“So... What made you decide to get that ring?” Neighbor asked. Herbert thought about it, “Well our relationship had progressed to the point of ah... sharing a room and I figured it was the next logical step.”

“Gross! Anyway, Martha is hoping you guys have kids soon since you’re sharing a room now.”

“Wait how long have you known?”

“Martha saw you two walk in to Rubi’s room like a month ago and assumed. Plus she said you guys were kissing so that didn’t help.”

Herbert felt his face grow warm. Of course Martha would have seen that. Of course. She watched the two of them like a damned soap opera, to the point of her children following her around.

“How’s Gerald taking it?” He asked after a few silent seconds.

“He’s fine so far. Doesn’t like the idea of you being gross with Rubi, but he understands that if he tries the ignoring Rubi route like last time, she’ll get sad again and he doesn’t want to go through that a second time.”

Herbert was grateful for that, “I don’t feel comfortable talking about this with someone seemingly 15 years old.”

They grinned, “My birthday is around the corner.”

“You’ve said that for a year.”

They just smiled, taking the large bag of cat food, “Thanks for buying this, by the way. It was cool hanging out with you outside of your little glow stick juice project. You’re kind of cool.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not correct but thank you anyway,” he waved goodbye and walked into the house, hiding the ring box in his pocket. He was grateful he had casually measured Rubi’s fingers one time a few weeks ago, although at the time it had been for some other reason involving his reanimation project.

Sighing, he walked to the shed, opening it and sitting down. He worked for a few hours, rewriting chemical compositions to see if the slight changes would help with the reanimating process. He knew he was close to a breakthrough, as the most recent reanimation had resulted in something akin to normal before the subject had become violent.

He always kind of admired Rubi when she would hit the subjects with her metal bat.

He hadn’t realized how much time had passed until Rubi came into the shed, wrapping her arms around him.

“Come on, I can’t sleep without you there anymore, and I’m tired,” she mumbled, her voice soft and patient. Herbert hated when she sounded like that because he couldn’t tell her no. She had a powerful effect over him now and she knew it.

He sighed, “Very well. What time is it?”

“Like 1 in the morning,” she muttered, yawning. Herbert closed his book and stood, stretching slightly. He grabbed her hand and walked with her back to the house.

“Go change,” she mumbled, “I’m gonna go lie down.”

“Why didn’t you come get me sooner?” He asked. She shrugged, “You don’t get to work as much as you used to, I didn’t want to take you away from it...”

He smiled gently, kissing her on the cheek, “Go lie down. I’ll be in there in a minute.”

She smiled sleepily at him and walked to the room. He went and changed, following soon after.


	28. Chapter 28

Rubi knew something was off. She had been sick all morning, and she wasn’t one to get sick. Herbert had been helpful and held her hair back for her, occasionally asking questions to figure out what was wrong.

“It wasn’t anything you ate?” He asked for what felt like the fourth time. Rubi glared tiredly, “No.”

Herbert sighed, “Rubi, did you miss your period?”

She glared again before blinking in surprise, “Oh shit wait I did.”

Herbert winced, he was afraid of that. Perhaps it was nothing but he had to be sure, “Do you have a pregnancy test or do you need one?”

“Why would I have a... I have... wait... do you think I’m...,” she faltered before she could say the word.

Herbert frowned, “Considering protection is... kind of something we’ve neglected to use on multiple occasions, it’s very possible.”

Rubi put her head in her hands, “Can you get one for me?” She asked in a small voice. She was shaking. She was scared.

Herbert was beginning to get scared too, but softly replied, “Very well. Do you want me to call Dan or Meg?”

“Call Meg. She would know what to do if that’s the case, since she’s got a kid on the way herself.”

After calling Meg and explaining the situation lightly and calmly, Herbert kissed Rubi on the top of her head and told her he would be back.

—  
“So you think you might be pregnant?” Meg asked. Rubi nodded, “Herbert is pretty sure but I don’t want to confirm a damn thing until I take that test.”

“Let’s get your mind off it for a bit, tell me about some other stuff going on in your life.”

“Well... My artist job has been doing really well. I uh, I need to call Neighbor later. They were asking me about a gift of some kind and I think they wanted a painting,” Rubi pulled out a notepad, showing a note she had taken for Neighbor.

“What kind?”

“It’s for the opossums I think.”

Meg laughed. The two discussed what Neighbor might need a painting for when Herbert finally walked in the room.

He handed the small box to her, “Sorry I know I was gone a while but I needed to ask where they were.”

Rubi left the room to go take the test, leaving Herbert and meg alone.

“You know she’s pregnant,” Herbert said calmly. Meg nodded, then asked, “What’s in your pocket ?”

He sighed, pulling a box out. It was simple, black. Meg knew immediately, “Are you ready for that kind of...?”

“She thought I was asleep a few weeks ago and told me she loved me. I think this is the next logical step,” he said softly, not wanting Rubi to hear.

He heard a yell suddenly, and he ran to the bathroom, Meg behind him. Rubi sat on the floor, looking at the two and holding the test in her hand.

“I’m pregnant.”

—

Herbert frowned. Rubi has been in her room since finding out the news of her expecting. He hoped she wasn’t mad at him.

He slid the note under the door, hoping she saw it and read it.

Rubi heard a knock and stood quickly. She walked over and was about to open it when she saw the note. Picking it up she recognized Herbert’s handwriting on it.

Opening it, the note read, “Rubi I hope you aren’t upset with the way things are going, but I’ve been trying to write this letter for a while now and I felt the urge to finally give it to you. I heard what you said that night a few weeks ago. I love you, as well. You are beautiful distraction, constantly working your way into my mind even when I work on my scientific projects. You’ve honestly improved me for the better and I suppose I really should thank you for that.”

She read further, “When you finish this please come find me. I need to give you something, and I should be ready to talk about the baby situation.”

She left the room and walked downstairs, where Herbert was anxiously sitting. He stood quickly upon seeing her.

“I want to keep it,” she told him, “I just worry about your work. How dangerous it is. Unsafe for little kids.”

“It is unsafe. I’m willing to halt my work for as long as possible if you really want that child.”

She noticed the box, recognizing what kind of box it was. He grabbed it and opened it.

“Neighbor helped me pick it out. They said it suited you. I think they were correct. If you want to marry me, that is.”

“You’re asking me to marry you?”

“If you’ll have me.”

She ran and hugged him, not saying anything. Backing away she gently took the ring out of the box and placed it on her finger.

They smiled at one another, no words needed.


	29. Chapter 29

Rubi looked down nervously, smoothing the folds in her skirt again. Meg came over and fixed the headpiece, “Stop fretting. You look fine.”

“I know but… I dunno I guess I’m just nervous? I never thought I’d get married,” Rubi wasn’t even at the altar yet and she was already fighting tears. Her hands fell to her stomach, smiling slightly, “I’m happy it’s happening though, among other things.”

“Have you figured out the gender yet? Or are you keeping it a surprise?” Meg teased. Rubi smiled, “We’re keeping it a surprise. Herbert knows, but he won’t tell me. I asked him not to, really. I wanna be surprised when they’re born. I think Herbert is excited about the whole thing, although he’s really good at hiding it. But he always puts his hand here,” she gestured to the small bump in her middle, “Every time he’s near me. It’s… It’s really sweet.”

“I don’t know how you did it, but you really changed him.”

“Oh I didn’t do anything. That was all him. He’s still Herbert, I heard him talking about his work in his sleep last night. We still argue over things, I’m still pretty sure he thinks I’m at least kind of dumb, but he’s a lot nicer about it. But he’s grown really comfortable around me, and he’s gotten to the point where he can be comfortable around Dan and you, too. I think he was always like this, he just kind of hid it behind an asocial exterior.”

“You changed, too, you know? You were a lot more angry when I first met you. A little bitter, a little sad. But you’re glowing now, and I don’t think I’ve seen you this happy in the entire time I’ve known you,” Meg hugged her friend, “It’s nice to see you happy.”

“I was in a bad place when I first met Herbert, I mention it in my vows, so I’ll spare you the details for now,” Rubi laughed, “I probably need to finish getting ready. It’s almost time.”

\--

Rubi had never looked so stunning before. She walked, arm in arm with her grandfather, the man who technically made this all possible, toward Herbert. She was beaming, tears already in her eyes, the necklace Herbert had given her lying gently on her neck.

Herbert was nervous. He’d never even considered the idea of being married, yet here he was. He thought he would be alone for the rest of his day, focused forever on getting his reagent to successfully work. But here he stood, Neighbor dressed in some ridiculous robes as they waited to officiate the ceremony. He and Rubi agreed that it made sense.

They had also agreed the wedding should be in the forest outside their home. It was the perfect place. Red and black was the main theme, roses the main flower of choice. It was lovely, if Herbert was honest. It suited the both of them. But he thought it was perfect for her.

She smiled, looking even taller than normal. She leaned over and said quietly, “I’m wearing heels.”

“I had a feeling. You look lovely,” he replied, a small smile on his face. He adjusted his glasses, taking her hand as they turned to Neighbor.

“Friends, Rubi’s mom and grandpa, opossums,” Neighbor started, “We are gathered to bring these two people together in marriage. I am the officiator, as I got my license to do so. So let’s start with the vows. Herbert I think the groom goes first, so you go first.”

Herbert went stiff, relaxing when Rubi reached out and grabbed his hand. He breathed, and started, “Rubi. I’m terrible with words when it comes to how I feel, the best way I ever could admit my feelings was to write them down, much like I did here. When I first met you, I assumed you were like every other woman I had ever met, and had no intention of ever getting to know you. I am… glad to be wrong, in this situation. I grew comfortable with your presence and you in turn helped me open up. You helped me with my…,” he glanced over and saw Rubi’s small family, “Work, when I desperately needed it. And while I am aware that the beginning of our friendship was very rocky, it ended up becoming something I didn’t know I needed – companionship. I don’t know why you chose me, but I’m eternally grateful. I love… I love you.”

Rubi wanted to kiss him right then. She couldn’t help it, the tears that she had been fighting finally spilled over. Neighbor turned to her, “Your turn, Rubi.”

Wiping her eyes as best she could, without messing her makeup up, she nodded and began, “When I first met you, I didn’t know what to think. I’d been… I’d been in a bad spot emotionally. I was still recovering from my last relationship failure, and I hadn’t been living here for very long, so I knew literally no one. But that horrible night in the hospital was the biggest turning point in my life. When I made eye contact that first time, I felt an emotion I didn’t know at the time, and I still don’t really know what it was. Over time, the emotions became known and I realize I think a part of me knew you and I were destined to be together. I’m not one to believe in things like fate, but if my grandpa hadn’t been off that night, I might never have met you. You, oddly enough, helped me grow out of my angry attitude, and after becoming friends with your friends, and you becoming friends with mine,” she smiled at Neighbor, and turned to the opossums, “We wouldn’t be in this situation now. I’m thrilled, beyond thrilled. This is the happiest I’ve been in… a very, very long time. And I’m excited about what the future holds for… for all three of us,” she finished, her hand falling to her stomach.

Herbert wasn’t one to cry, but Rubi could tell he was fighting it as she finished her speech. Neighbor continued with the wedding, Martha was the one to bring the wedding rings, which caused Rubi to cry all over again. The other opossums carried flowers as Rubi and Herbert walked off, officially married.

The reception was simple, Rubi’s mom came and congratulated the couple, “Welcome to our small family, Herbert. I had a feeling the two of you were going to end up together.”

“Well I’m… It definitely caught me by surprise, but I’m… glad to be a part of your family,” Herbert replied. He glanced at Rubi, who smiled reassuringly at him, “She knows about the baby, you don’t need to be so formal.”

“Wait what,” he muttered. Rubi and her mom both laughed, “You really think I’d keep something like that from my mom? It’s… It’s kind of obvious now,” Rubi gestured to her stomach, “Not exactly able to hide a baby bump.”

Herbert smiled a little and nodded. After chatting with Rubi’s mother and grandfather a little bit, they sat down and Neighbor walked over, “The last time I officiated a wedding, it was for Martha and Steve. It was an interesting change to marry two people instead of opossums.”

“Neighbor, nothing you say surprises me anymore,” Herbert said. They smiled and replied, “I know what gender your baby is and Martha wants to know the name you have picked.”

“Don’t tell me the gender I wanna be surprised!” Rubi laughed. Herbert sighed, “We have two different names picked out, one for a boy, and one for a girl. Rubi doesn’t like the idea of gender reveal parties, honestly I’m not a fan of them either, so we’re keeping it quiet until the due date.”

“Oh did we decide for a girl? I was stuck between a couple of names for a girl…,” Rubi muttered. Herbert shrugged, “I thought you said you liked-,” he was cut off by someone clearing their throat.

Much to his surprise, but seemingly to no one else’s, Edna was standing before them. She looked as uncomfortable as he felt. He looked at Rubi, who smiled and said, “Thanks for coming. I appreciate it.”

“Well when you told me you were expecting I had to see it for myself,” Edna replied, “I didn’t think there was a way to make Herbert West halt his projects, but it seems you succeeded in doing so. I still don’t trust you, West, but I suppose congratulations are in order. So congratulations for getting married and becoming a father, don’t mess your child up.”

“I have no intention of ‘messing my child up’ as you put it, but thank you, anyway.”

She nodded, walking off. Rubi sighed, “Sorry, I meant to tell you I invited her. I didn’t want her to feel left out, you know?”

“Heaven forbid she be upset she wasn’t invited to the wedding of someone she despises,” he replied. She laughed softly, grabbing his hand.

“Hello you two!!” A familiar voice called. Neighbor’s parents were here, grinning at them. Herbert felt the urge to get up and run, but also the urge to pull Rubi closer to him.

“Put ‘er there, Sport!” Mr. Neighbor held his hand out. Herbert cautiously grabbed the hand and shook it, “Congrats on the ankle-biter, our Child told us all about the good news!”

“Ah, thank you,” Herbert said. Mrs. Neighbor was gushing about getting Rubi maternity clothes that fit with Rubi’s goth aesthetic, “I’m sure there’s plenty of neat eye-catching clothes you’ll absolutely adore! We’ll have to go shopping sometime!”

“That’d be lovely, Mrs. Neighbor,” Rubi replied, and smiled at Herbert, who looked incredibly uncomfortable but was putting on the bravest front she’d ever seen. The couples talked for a few more minutes, before Neighbor dragged their parents away to go eat something.

“Did it get colder while they were standing here?” Herbert muttered. Rubi snickered and batted his shoulder lightly, “Stop that, they were being nice!”

Herbert smiled at her, grabbing her hand, “I… I’m kind of nervous about all of this. How do I go about my business now knowing that I’m married?”

The same way you did before you got married, I guess,” Rubi replied, laughing softly.

\--

The last few months had passed in a blur. Rubi had not expected everything to happen so quickly, but one moment she was having a decent time relaxing, and the next moment, she’s in a hospital room having some of the worst pain in her life.

Herbert waited anxiously for the nurse to let him in. He was frustrated, wanting to be in there to comfort Rubi during this time, he’d even gotten mad about it and explained that he was a doctor himself and worked in the hospital. They finally let him in, though, and he rushed over to his wife’s bedside, gripping her hand.

“Oh thank fucking Christ,” Rubi breathed, “I was about to scream if they didn’t let you in.”

“Sorry,” he replied. The grip on his hand was painful, but he didn’t let go of her hand as she breathed laboriously. The whole process was difficult, but finally, after what felt like hours, the nurse held up a tiny baby.

“It’s a girl,” they replied. Rubi laughed breathlessly, “A girl… Wonderful.”

After cleaning the child up, they handed the baby to Rubi. She held the little bundle close to her, a small, tired smile on her face. Herbert blinked in surprise at the baby having a surprisingly thick amount of dark hair on her head.

Rubi smiled, “Do you want to hold her?”

“Oh! M… Me?” He asked, unsure. Rubi nodded, “I’m tired.”

He gently reached out and picked the tiny bundle up, an expression on his face Rubi hadn’t seen before. She smiled as he muttered softly, “Hello, Marie.”


	30. EPILOGUE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been one hell of a story, and I left this on a good note, I think. I never thought I'd actually finish a fic, but here we are! Thanks for supporting it!

“Alan, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Marie said coolly to her friend. Alan Cain shrugged, “We need two more people for D&D and you and Georgia mentioned being kind of interested.”

“I mentioned being interested. I doubt my sister would be,” Marie huffed, her dark hair falling over her eye. The opossum sitting next to her looked up in question. Marie looked at him, “No, Heebee, I don’t think opossums can play D&D.”

“That’s really weird, you can talk to opossums?”

“Neighbor taught me. Speaking of, if I absolutely must play this game with you, I’m bringing them along.”

“Ok but… please bring Georgia too. I feel like her upbeat attitude will keep things from getting really depressing. Our usual DM tends to go for more dark and unsettling stories and I’m kinda tired of it.”

Marie smirked, “Get a new DM then.”

\--

“Bye mom, we’ll be back later,” Marie called. Rubi brushed her dark hair away from her eyes, “Where are you two off to?”

“Ah, we’re gonna go play some board game with Alan and Neighbor and a couple other people,” Georgia replied. Her blonde hair was tied back in a short ponytail today, keeping it neatly away from her face. Rubi smiled at her kids, “Ok, but make sure you’re back by dinner. Dad’s coming home tonight and he wants to see all three of his favorite girls, ok?”

“Ok mom!”

“Alright…”

The two girls left the home, running for a bit to catch up to Neighbor, “Hey dude, you’re coming with us, right? I don’t think the two of us could handle whatever is gonna happen today without you,” Marie asked. Neighbor, still seemingly the same age they were when they met Marie and Georgia’s parents years ago, nodded and grinned, “I’m hoping to play as a wizard, what about you guys?”

“I’ve never played before but I want to be a necromancer,” Marie smirked, “I felt like it was appropriate.”

“I wanna be a bard,” Georgia grinned, “I assume those are in the game.”

The three walked to Alan’s home, where he met up with them, “Come on, we’re playing the game at our current DM’s house, I’ll drive.”

Marie and Neighbor sat in the back, while Georgia sat up front, talking excitedly about whatever they would be playing. Marie sighed, looking out the window. She really didn’t want to be there. Truly her father’s daughter, she was more of an introvert than anything. Georgia got some of her mother’s peppier personality, but amped up by 11. Sometimes she wondered how the two of them ended up so different.

The four got out of the car, meeting the DM, a lanky boy named Lucas. He talked with Alan and Georgia for a moment, but kept looking at Marie. She didn’t like being stared at, and pushed her glasses back up on her nose.

“Who’s the one with bangs in their eyes?” Lucas asked. Marie spoke up, “They go by Neighbor. That’s all you really need to know about them.”

“Nice, and uh… what’s your name? I don’t think I caught it,” Lucas seemed to be trying to flirt, but Marie wasn’t interested.

“Didn’t give it,” she replied, “But if you must now, I’m Marie West. Georgia’s older sister.”

“Well Marie, it’s nice to meet someone so… formal. What kind of stuff are you interested in?”

“Death,” Marie said, quoting something her father had said to someone, long ago. It didn’t have the desired effect, as instead of unnerved, the boy only seemed more interested in her.

They went inside, meeting two other people, a short, chubbier boy named Elijah, and a tall, surprisingly strong looking boy named James. Marie knew them all from school, and she really didn’t know if she wanted a part of this at this point in time.

“Well now that we’re all here, shall we go play our game?” Lucas asked, gesturing overdramatically to a different room. Marie frowned and followed the others as they walked into the room.

\--

Marie hated this. Right off the bad, the DM had decided to pick characters instead of letting people create them. She didn’t know how this game worked, exactly, but she was pretty sure that wasn’t part of the rules.

Georgia, Alan, and Neighbor seemed happy, at least. Georgia got to be a bard, Alan got to be a Paladin, and Neighbor was a wizard. Marie, Elijah, and James did not really enjoy their character picks. Marie got stuck as another bard, Elijah was an elf, and James was an orc.

The game was fine, although Marie could tell there was some favoritism going on. When the session ended, Marie announced she and Georgia needed to go home, as their father would be home soon and he’d been gone a few days. Alan agreed, and he and Neighbor walked out with the others.

“Hope you’ll be back for the next session,” Lucas said, specifically to Marie. She tried not to recoil when he touched her hand.

“I’ll see if I’m up to it,” she replied. Georgia talked excitedly all the way home, Neighbor looked out the window and kept muttering ominous things to themselves, and Marie once again sat in silence.

“Hey, you ok?” Alan asked after he dropped the girls and Neighbor off. Marie shrugged, “Didn’t feel comfortable with that Lucas guy. He gave me some… bad vibes.”

“He’s just kinda awkward is all. He wasn’t expecting me to bring girls. Or Neighbor, for that matter,” Alan scratched his head, “Probably should have warned him. He might have actually cleaned up the place.”

“I probably will only go back if Georgia wants to. I don’t want her going alone, despite you being there to protect her.”

Alan nodded in understanding, “I think Elijah was staring at her the whole time. But they’re in the same class so it’s entirely possible he was trying to remember where he saw her before.”

“Alan do you think I’m weird?”

“What?”

“I overheard James and Elijah talking at one point, when we took a break and I left to go find the restroom. I overheard them talking and James said something along the lines of, ‘Why did Alan bring the weird West girl? Georgia’s fine, but the other one’s just so solemn and it freaks me out.’”

“Ah shit M, I’m sorry. I didn’t know…,” Alan sighed, “I’ll talk to him if you want. He doesn’t know you and Georgia like I do.”

Marie smiled slightly, “Thanks dude. And listen, if you’re gonna ask Georgia out, could you hurry it up? She’s starting to think you’re not interested.”

Alan’s face turned red as he sat down in his car, waving goodbye. Marie laughed quietly to herself and walked into the house.

“Marie look, dad’s here!” Georgia said excitedly. Marie smiled, “Great. It’s been a few days. How’s work been, dad?”

Herbert sighed tiredly, “Stressful. But I won’t bog you down with the boring details. Tell me how you two spent the day. Your mother informed me you went to play some game with friends.”

\--

It was late, Georgia and her mother had already gone to sleep, but Marie’s mind was racing. She got up and walked downstairs, blinking in surprise when she saw her father, writing some notes down.

“Dad, you’re up late. Everything ok?”

“Old habits, dear. I should be the one asking you why you’re awake at this hour,” he replied. Marie felt more comfortable around him than around her mother. He understood her better than most, the two tended to think similarly.

“Do you think I’m weird?”

“I think you’re intelligent and it puts people off. Why do you ask?”

Marie frowned, “Some guys called me weird, today. I felt… I don’t know how I felt, but I didn’t like it. Alan said he doesn’t think I’m weird, but he’s known me since we were babies so he’s not a reliable source.”

“Well, I’ve also known you since you were a baby, does that make me an unreliable source?”

“I suppose not…,” she sat by him, “I’m really glad your home. I love mom, but I can’t talk to her about some things.”

“Like what?”

“Why am I not interested in dating? Georgia’s boy crazy right now, was mom like that?” Marie asked. Herbert shook his head, “I never told you or Georgia how your mother and I met, did I?”

“She told us you guys met at a hospital when she went to visit her grandpa?”

“There’s more to it,” he said softly, “You know we don’t like secrets, but your mother felt it necessary to keep some things to ourselves until you were ready for it. You’re 18 now, and I believe you’re ready to hear everything that happened to us when we were younger.”

Marie and her father sat up all night talking. She felt a lot closer now, not just to her father, but to her mother too. She understood why her mother would want certain things kept secret, the reanimation, the zombie creatures, the fact that Marie’s father has murdered. Herbert had told Marie everything he could remember, from when he first began his work on reanimation, to meeting Rubi, to falling for Rubi, to now.

“You’re still working on it?”

“I am. That’s the true reason I leave for several days at a time. But I believe you’re ready to understand everything, and if your mother ever decides to permit it, I’d be willing to pass the mantle on to you. You’re intelligent, and you’re focused, Marie. I believe you could continue my work long after I’m gone in the future.”

He opened his bag and pulled out a vial, the liquid inside a glowing, neon green. He held it out to her, smiling as she reached for it.


End file.
